I’m sorry, but I really liked Transformers II
Despite the title of this entry, I am not sorry that I enjoyed Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen. The plot was fairly simple to follow even if it was filled with holes so wide Devastator could waltz right through them. The parents were hilariously annoying, Shia LaBeouf was perfect as Sam, and Megan Fox was hot. I actually liked John Turturro more in this movie than in the last one. He and whoever played Leo Spitz, Sam’s new roommate, had me laughing oh so hard.
My biggest complaint with the first Transformers movie was with the robot fight sequences. Because most of the ‘formers were the same color in robot mode, I could not tell who was fighting who and who was winning! The fight sequences were also shot with incredible closeups making it even more difficult to tell what was going on. This time around, Michael Bay and company decided to go more colorful. When Bumblebee was fighting the red Decepticon in the desert, I knew who was throwing the punches.
I love the nods to old school mythology with the Matrix of Leadership and Optimus Prime’s and Jetfire’s combination for the final fight between Prime and The Fallen. Something my husband brought up, Alicia, the hot robot babe/spy that tries to seduce Sam while away at college, is a Pretender. The Pretenders were toys that came out after the show stopped airing here in the States. I’m thinking that they were introduced in the Japanese episodes later on. Other happy moments included seeing the RC’s even though there was only one in the cartoon, Wheelie (am I spelling that right?), and of course Sound Wave.
I especially loved the introduction of a new mythology for the movies with the Primes and their history on Earth and the source of Energon. I want more of this in future installments.
Now we come to the stuff that bothered me. The twins are a stereotypical insult I had a real problem with. Their inclusion was both disgusting and racist. They were rarely funny and were this movie’s version of Jar Jar Binks.
In all honesty, though, I do not understand why this movie is getting panned. I saw no difference between this movie and the first except that I had an easier time distinguishing the good guys and the bad guys, and there was no more need for a set up. I say if you enjoyed the first one, you will probably enjoy this one just as much. Pay no attention to the negative reviews, most of what I’ve heard/read is nitpicking anyway, except for the twins. — 3 1/2 stars out of 5.
Star Trek, Oh Yeah!
I finally saw Star Trek! It took long enough! I felt like I’d been punched in the gut within the first five minutes! This movie had it all, drama, humor, action, and wonderful nostalgic moments.
After J.J. Abrams completely altered the time-line, I had no trouble with this relaunch. Chris Pine nailed Kirk perfectly even if he did not really try to impersonate Shatner. This worked for me because from the moment of Kirk’s birth, the time-line was irrevocably altered.
I was even happy with Zachary Quinto which I didn’t think I would be. He looked too much like Sylar in the previews, and I was afraid it would be too distracting for me. He was most definitely in character enough for me to nto be bothered by how Sylar he appeared. The background of this time-line’s Spock was fascinating, moving, even surprising.
Another actor who just totally blew me away was Karl Urban who played Bones. He played the crotchety Dr. McCoy to perfection down to the insults he mutters under his breath about Spock.
In short, this movie was awesome. Those few fans still holding out because Chris Pine isn’t Shatner need to go suck it up and go watch this movie. This is the best thing to happen to the franchise.
Watchmen review
In the interest of full disclosure, I have never read graphic novel, Watchmen. I went to see this movie last night. As a film, Watchmen was very good. The acting was great. The CGI effects are wonderful. The story was a fascinating character story, dramatic and at times brutal. The music was perfect. I never thought Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah would be right up there with Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get it On, but it worked so well in this particular scene. Having not read Watchmen, I cannot speak for the adaptability to the screen. My husband has read the graphic novel, so I will bow to his opinion and say that it stuck fairly closely to the graphic novel.
Having said all that, I was fairly bored for most of film. I do not normally enjoy dramas or character studies, so that would probably explain why I was so bored. There were few action scenes, but the ones there were, were very reminiscent in style and cinematography to 300 (a movie I adore). These gory scenes did not bother me at all in 300, but in Watchmen, I just could not handle it. I gave up trying to watch it and just started covering my eyes and waiting for the gore to pass. There were no characters in this film for me to identify with or even like. I felt more like a spectator than a part of the experience. I feel like this movie would appeal to the fans of the graphic novel and people who enjoy high drama films. For the rest of us, or at least for me I do not believe I will want to watch it again.
Dark Angel aka I Come in Peace
I watched Dark Angel or as I knew as a child I Come in Peace this weekend. A friend of ours bought a bootleg DVD and brought it over. What a wonderfully awful movie! Who didn’t love Dolph Lundgren in the 80’s? There is very little that is quotable in this movie, but here are the top quotes:
“If you touch this, I will hit you very, very hard.”
“I come in peace.” “Then you’ll go in pieces, asshole!”
I can’t remember much more. I saw it on Saturday, so most of the movie has dribbled out.
I Come in Peace was then followed by another Dolph Lundgren flick, The Punisher. No, I am not mistaken. There was a Punisher movie before the Tom Jane 2004 Punisher. I am telling you Saturday night was a wonderful night for corny 80’s Lundgren movies. I wanted to put on Showdown in Little Tokyo to finish out the night, but Randy was waiting to watch it when he received his next Netflix delivery, so we ended up watching New Frontier. I’m not complaining, but Little Tokyo would have rounded out the evening so much better!
Movie Round up: The Happening
Like I mentioned previously, I will be doing a round up of recently watched movies. Today’s review is for The Happening directed by M. Night Shyamalan. First of all, it is not the worst movie I’ve ever seen, although it is Shyamalan’s weakest. My biggest contention with the film comes from the poorly written dialogue. The concept was a good one, not a great premise, but good. I also felt that the cast was great. I’ve loved Zooey Deschanel ever since I saw her in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galazy and the Tin Man miniseries. She was good in this movie. She even made the one of the many endings seem not so bad just with the way she uses her eyes. Mark Wahlberg’s character, Elliot was just a little too unreal, too “good guy.” John Leguizamo was great even if his character was difficult to care for.
By far the most disturbing and chilling scene in the whole movie was when Julian (Leguizamo) and the group he left with to New Jersey arrived in the town his wife was supposed to have escaped to. As they arrived in the small town, they found all the gardeners hanging from the trees from their hoses. I have goosebumps just remembering this particular scene.
All in all the movie was not terrible. It was a great B-movie. There were some very chilling death scenes, terrible dialogue, a great cast, and one or two too many endings.
Recent movie round up
Due to NaNoWriMo this year, I did not get around to blogging about the new movies I’ve seen recently. I know you are all terribly disapointed! So, for the next few days I will feature one per day of the following, The Happening, Wall-E, and Kung-Fu Panda. To sum up though, the latter two were great the first not so much.
I will start with the most recent since I can remember that best, Wall-E. Wall-E was adorable, Eve was wonderful and reminded me of well, me, and even the little roach did not totally freak me out. My husband kept referring to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin when talking about this movie. I think I finally understand. There is very little dialog in this movie. Wall-E’s programming does not allow for much in the way of speech nor does he have anyone to talk to while on Earth. His one friend is the little roach he feeds Twinkie’s to and the videos he finds in the piles of trash. Eve’s a much advanced model, all sleek lines and gleaming plastic. Wall-E is smitten, albeit mostly terrified upon their first encounter (being shot at by a super charged laser blaster will that, I guess.) That’s where I relate with Eve. Irritate me at just the right moment and you will probably receive the Puertorican she-demon treatment. My husband will probably laugh about that one.
Anyway, I loved the way the movie ended with the humans returning to Earth because they finally realized how empty their existance was on board the Axiom. I particularly liked the captain and his fight to regain control from Auto (the autopilot robot).
This movie is absolutely enchanting. I recommend it to all adults, children, film lovers, and anyone else I might have left out.
Movie Night: Mamma Mia!
Friday night was our monthly girl’s movie night. Since it’s Karen’s birthday this month, we went out to a movie instead of staying in. We ended up seeing Mamma Mia!. I have to say, I had a blast with this movie. All the nitpicking about the choreography, when the movie is set, and performances were rather beside the point. You don’t even have to be a big fan of ABBA to enjoy this movie. Although, by the end of it all three of us were ready to start a sing-a-long movie night with this movie.
Amanda Seyfried was adorable as Sophie, Meryl Streep was gold as Donna, and Pierce Brosnan was just yummy. There were other people in it that were great, but these are the only ones that stuck out in my mind.
The only issue I had with Streep’s performance was her wackadoo dance moves during her performance of Mamma Mia!. Other than that, I loved the choreography. Sometimes it’s just enough that the dance match the song.
There is a very disturbing moment when Sophie’s three dads appear in 1970’s sequined jumpsuits at the credits I feel I need to warn you about.
This is definitely a movie for lovers of musicals, ABBA, fun and funny romantic movies, and anyone who likes to sing along.
Speed Racer Film was cool!
Alright I’ll admit that when the first reviews were trickling in for Speed Racer, I joined that band wagon of those who did not see this movie in the theaters. However, last night our Netflix movies arrived and among them was Speed Racer. We threw that on right after dinner and were pretty much set for the evening. I welled up when Rex Racer, Speed’s older brother, “dies” in the explosion, I laughed and cheered, and turned several times to my husband to say “That’s cool!”
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the general consensus as to why this movie failed, is due to the “headache-inducing special effects” and lack of cohesive plot. I’m not sure about most people, but the special effects looked incredible on my plasma 50″ TV. The look of the film was jarring at first. The moment young Speed steps outside of school, I was assaulted by the Crayola colored set. The sky was a blue that I have never seen in nature, the grass was an intense green, all around primary colors dominated the landscape. After the initial jolt, however, I felt a smile creep over my face. This felt like a cartoon come to life.
I used to watch the show as a kid, I remember how intense Speed was when he spoke, the mystery of Racer X, the comic relief that was Chim Chim and Spritle, Sparky and Pops, I loved it. This movie captured the Speed Racer cartoon I remember excellently. Emile Hirsch captured Speed’s brooding intensity, Pauli Pitt was perfect as the intrepid Spritle, and John Goodman, well the man’s a great actor and he played Pops Racer perfectly. Susan Sarandon is a pro, she could play anything. I don’t remember Mom Racer at all from the cartoon, so I have no basis for comparison. However, on the strength of her performance alone, she was great.
Matthew Fox and Christina Ricci were great as Racer X and Trixie. The moment when we learn Racer X’s true identity, the look on his face speaks volumes. I loved him in Lost and hope that he continues to get roles in Hollywood. Trixie never really made much of an impact on me when I watched the show as a child. The way she was written for the movie made just as little impact on me now. I thought she was cute and the perfect foil for Speed’s more rash personality.
The special effects were just awesome. I never felt like I was watching a CG creation. Everything felt like it could actually exist in the world of the Racer family. Obviously, I know that most of the film was shot on green screen, but while watching the movie I never felt pulled out of the moment to admire the CG effects.
The movie’s cinematography was amazing. The colors so intense, the stunts incredible, the courses spectacular it all blew you away. I never felt overwhelmed, though. Maybe on a big screen it could become too much, but I’ll never know now. Frankly, I regret missing out on the thrill ride it would have been to watch this movie on the Big Screen.
I had no problem following the plot and at no point did I feel the plot lacked cohesion. I’ve seen movies where I felt the film was nothing more than a string of scenes melded together by a trigger happy movie editor, Hope Floats comes to mind. Speed Racer was not that kind of movie. The plot was reminiscent of episodes from the show. The story was perfect for an adaptation to the big screen.
One of my husband’s and my pet peeves with critics and fan boys is when they pan a movie for the things that made the original source material so great. With movie critics it’s just annoying that they rip a movie apart without knowing anything of the original work. With fan boys, it’s frustrating that knowing the original work, they want something closer to a later incarnation of the work. Just two examples, Daredevil and Ghost Rider.
I loved this movie and so should you. Rent it, borrow it, download, On Demand it, or buy it just see it.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
I pretty much drove my mother insane with the number of times I watched this movie as a kid. I loved Belle. She was the first (for me, I didn’t count Snow White back then) brunette “princess” who also loved to read. It’s no secret how much I love to read. I spent whole days not changing out of my nightgown or PJs because I was too busy reading. I yearned to learn braille so that I could read while I slept. I realized later that once you’re asleep, it is impossible to concentrate on external stimuli. Anyway, I fell in love with the library at the castle. It was so massive! The shelves that soared up several stories, the ladders and spiral staircases to reach the tops… I decided then and there I wanted something like that some day. I have no idea how I would fill such a library.
I adored the ballroom sequence. I loved her dress, even though it was yellow, and the computer graphics made that ballroom feel so real. This scene spoke to my romantic side. I love to dance and still dream of being swept away in the arms of my husband wearing a smashing tux in some remote castle’s ballroom. Go ahead and laugh, I am a romantic.
I memorized all the songs, went to see the IMAX show, wanted desperately to see the Broadway show, hated Gaston, suffered for her crackpot father, and watched with tension the final fight on the rooftops of the castle between Gaston and The Beast. Was anyone else disappointed when the Prince was revealed? Such a huge schnoz!
I loved how the animators used the stained glass art in to tell the prologue and epilogue of the story. It was quite beautiful.
More comfort movies
Director: Rob Reiner
One of my favorite fake fairy tales, the film stars Cary Elwes and Robin Wright Penn. This movie launched a long crush on Mr. Elwes that remains unabated to this day. A hilarious cast, the movie is fantastical, dramatic, comedic, and epic. Years later I read the book the film is based on. The book and the movie make great companions, the book only expanding upon the hilarity of the film. The movie is infinitely quotable, from the famous, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” to “There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in the world. It would be a pity to damage yours.”
