Lord of War Review (DVD)

I really loved this movie. It was funny as I expected, but I didn't realize that the movie would be more of an eye-opener as to what is going on in the rest of the world. Maybe there isn't much an average person can do about gun-running but at least it is good to be aware of what is going on. Nicholas Cage and Ethan Hawke do a pretty good job in this movie as do the guys that play the Baptiste duo. Lord of War is a serious movie, but it is funny and sad at the same time. Nicholas Cage's character is based on a conglomeration of five different arms dealers, but the conflicts and dates seem accurate. I would say that the movie is somewhat realistic because there are no real good guys and everyone has some flaws. This movie deals with gray areas rather than clear black and white, except for the message that guns are bad.

Lord of War = Great Rental

Fantastic Four Review (DVD)

This movie isn't much better than The Alamo. The hype for this movie left it a clear disappointment. Visually, the movie and the special effects were definitely geared towards the summer youth audience. I guess the easy money is in cookie cutter comic book movies with hot actors. There are a bunch of things that didn't quite make sense (jumping into a hot spring with no worries after your date spontaneously combusts into a ball of fire?) and the transition from discovering super powers to expert control of these powers comes a little too fast. In no time the Fantastic Four are performing synchronized combined attacks on Doctor Doom. This movie could be fun if you're under the age of twelve, but otherwise it is pretty mediocre.

Fantastic Four = Skip it and watch the X-men movies instead

The Alamo Review (DVD)

This movie does run a bit long at 2 hours and 17 minutes. Overall the story is pretty good, but if you already know the history of the events its probably not too exciting. There some over the top hollywood moments, but overall it's not the worst movie I've seen, which is what you would expect considering it went through theaters without much notice. I thought it was a pretty good history lesson although I could have learned a lot more in less time from a textbook or online article. The Alamo probably isn't as bad as everyone thinks, but you're not missing anything if you don't see it.

The Alamo = Worth Seeing If You Really Like Movies or American History, Otherwise Skip It

Serenity Review (DVD)

This sci-fi movie looks pretty good in terms of overall special effects. The ships, planets and characters blended in well with the actors. However the dialogue is hard to understand with fictitious words and phrases throughout. The one-liners aren't very effective and the entire movie lacks great scenes. There are a couple of really good tough guy characters in the movie and the plot isn't bad once the ending is revealed. Overall, Serenity is a decent movie but nothing about it is outstanding.

Serenity = Not worth seeing in theaters/Average Rental

Wolf Creek Review

This is one of those movies where its based on a true story, but you leave questioning how much of it is fact or fiction. Set in the Australian outback, some folks in the audience might have some trouble understanding the heavy Aussie and British accents throughout the film. There are very few characters in this movie, but it doesn't have a low-budget look to it. There are frightening moments and scenes that make you want to cover your eyes like a good horror movie should, but in the end, there isn't very much to the story and it takes way too long to get going. The first half of the movie shows everyday college kids partying and then going on a long road trip. Not much happens. Once the movie gets going, there are some really tense and gross moments, but not much else. Some folks might leave the theater thinking, I liked the movie the first time I saw it when it was called The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Wolf Creek = Save Your Money/Rent It If You're In the Mood to Be Scared After a Really Long Introduction.

Munich Review

I had pretty high hopes for this movie since the premise sounded good and it was directed by Steven Spielberg, but I was disappointed. Munich isn't nearly as disappointing as War of the Worlds was, but it still wasn't very good. At 2.5+ hours, Munich is unnecesarily long, boring and slow. There are some good messages in the movie, a great 70's look to the film, some really realistic-looking action scenes and a solid performance by Eric Bana, but the positives didn't add up to make this movie worth the price of admission. Like War of the Worlds, I wonder how Yahoo! Movies can have good users and critics ratings for both Spielberg flicks. I do applaud Spielberg for presenting both sides of the conflict as having faults considering his heritage, but I am a little worried that he's dropped two disappointing films in such a short amount of time. I think Indiana Jones IV needs to come out real soon.

Munich = Wait for DVD/Average Rental

On a side note, Daniel Craig the new blonde James Bond was part of Eric Bana's team and he really pulled off the tough guy role.

Ratings warning - There are some gruesome scenes sprinkled throughout the movie. There is also full frontal male and female nudity for a brief period.

King Kong Review

This year's King Kong was much improved from the original movie and is clearly the better version. Unlike some movie remakes, Peter Jackson's product was probably necessary (I haven't seen the Jessica Lange 70's version so I'm not counting it here). One example of a movie that didn't need a second version was Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (aka Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Johnny Depp really showed an original character in his acting repertoire, but the souped-up special effects didn't add very much to a movie that really wasn't that old. King Kong on the other hand is just an ancient flick that was ahead of its time, before the age of color film and CGI. That being said, I understand the reason for the remake, but I really didn't get into the original King Kong story the first time I saw it.

Most of the changes were well done. Kong shows a lot more detailed expression, the scenes and creatures are much more frightening and the overall action is better, but it's just really long with a run time of 3+ hours. I have to admit that I nodded off for a minute or two at the end of the movie. The rest of the audience seemed to really like it and some even applauded when the credits rolled. The "word of mouth" review seems to be positive, but I definitely could have waited for DVD. Peter Jackson does a great job with the movie. Kong's actions, expressions, abilities and overall look were much improved, but in the end the story doesn't intrigue me too much and the lengthy 3+ hours is mostly due to the movie showcasing a bunch of frightening creatures on the island.

King Kong = Wait for DVD/Good Rental

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Review

When every trailer before a movie is animated, the expectations for a movie become lower since it is probably for children, but Narnia lives up to the hype. It's a really good story and the characters are well developed. That's probably what separates Narnia from Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. I thought Narnia was better than both. You get to know the characters of the movie instead of just learning about their abilities, skills and special powers. Even if you're not a fan of fantasy movies, Narnia holds the audience and doesn't seem like a really long movie.

The battle scenes are pretty good despite lacking some realism since children go toe-to-toe with fearsome adult creatures. Narnia maintains a kid friendly rating by making epic battles look like Braveheart and Troy without the blood. The movie is just really well done and the story has proven to stand the test of time.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy Narnia and leave wondering when the next movie will come out. IMHO, CS Lewis' Narnia is more enjoyable than Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and the overrated Harry Potter series.

Narnia = Worth Seeing in the Theater/Excellent Rental

Aeon Flux Review

I have to admit that Charlize Theron is one of my favorite actresses. If she wasn’t the star of this movie, I probably wouldn’t have seen it or liked it.

If you’ve seen the animated series on MTV, you may have a better appreciation for this movie. It is less confusing and weird compared to the cartoon. The plot actually makes sense in the movie version of Aeon Flux since there is actually dialogue that explains what is going on. Stylistically, Aeon Flux looks good in terms of costumes, set design and art design. It is pretty true to the animated series. The action scenes were not as good. Some of the ideas behind the action scenes were decent, but in the end the action fell short of the Matrix-style fighting. I really didn’t have high hopes for the movie, so I am not too disappointed by it and Charlize did a pretty good job.

Next week, I'll review The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

Aeon Flux = Wait for DVD/Average Rental

Walk the Line Review

Let me first say that I am not a Johnny Cash fan and I didn’t know anything about the man prior to seeing Walk the Line. It was pretty obvious to me that this movie deserved the hype it got and I would be surprised if Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon didn’t win Oscars. The acting was excellent and Robert Patrick aka T1000 from Terminator 2 was surprisingly good. I know there are some purists out there that think the original Johnny Cash and June Carter recordings are better, but after comparing the soundtrack versions of some songs with the originals, I actually thought Joaquin and Reese had very good covers. If I had to choose between the Joaquin version and the original Cash version, I’d probably choose the version off the soundtrack since it was remixed and more contemporary. Joaquin seems to have a pretty rich voice even though he probably isn’t as good a vocalist as Cash.

The movie does run a little long, but it only drags in a few places. Joaquin’s subtle transitions are very well done and his wardrobe looks really good. It is by far the best performance I’ve seen from Joaquin. I’m not a huge Reese fan but she does a really good job as well and I thought the accent was natural. The style of the movie is pretty much the same as all of the recent biopics, but something about it was just done better. As great as Jamie Foxx is, Ray wasn’t as good a movie. Both had excellent music, but Walk the Line was not as slow and boring as Ray. I would describe Walk the Line as one of those movies that you can’t figure out why it was good, but for whatever reason you liked it. Maybe it was just the subtle acting and the persona, but overall it was just a well done film.

Walk the Line = Worth Seeing in Theaters/Great Rental

Saw II Review

I'll have to admit that when I saw the first display for Saw, I thought it was just a lame and gory horror movie. To make things worse, the big stars in the movie (Danny Glover and Cary Elwes) weren't really that big. After getting multiple recommendations, I finally watched Saw on DVD and it was not the mindless gore-fest that I expected. Contrarily, it was rather twisted and interesting with some good messages in it. I would say it's a pretty sick movie at times, but you can't help wanting to know what happens in the end.

Of course, I had to go see Saw II right afterwards. I'll agree with my roommate that it was even a little more disturbing than the first film, but I thought the ending was better. However, I would disagree and say that seeing the first Saw is a MUST. Several scenes in Saw II don't really make sense until you see the first Saw. Overall, both movies do a great job of keeping you interested, but it isn't for the faint of heart. If you can handle it, I would highly recommend seeing both IN ORDER. By the way (btw), the ending for Saw II is better than the Skeleton Key, so don't believe the hype about the best ending since the Sixth Sense.

Saw and Saw II = Worth the Price of Admission/Great Rental