So I've been seeing far too many movies lately, so I thought I would review them. Not complex reviews, the one sentence kind. More challenging that way. Here are some of the movies I have seen recently at the theater.
Well, I've see way fewer movies lately, but so what?
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Pan's Labrinth
Grade:
B-Comments:
Great visuals, over evil characters, would be great if it wasn't clear that everything was in her head. -
Flushed Away
Grade:
BComments:
Cute. If the rats were people sized, I've seen slugs that big. -
Little Children
Grade:
BComments:
-
Good Shepherd
Grade:
C+Comments:
Not gripping. -
Stranger Than Fiction
Grade:
B+Comments:
What can I say, I'm a sucker for movies with a narrator. -
X3
Grade:
C-Comments:
What a fun movie to mock. Some of the worst dialog ever, delivered in unconvincing ways. Consistancy issues beyond what mere mortals could invent. Characters that were almost as deep as a picture on a cerial box; almost. Oh, in the end, we discover it was basically a non-event. -
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Grade:
BComments:
A strange mixture of originalish dialog and american modernisms. Sad directing. Uninspired camera work (if there is a boring and obvious angle to use, let's use it!). Aslan was ok though. Give me wonderworks anyday. -
Walice and Gromet
Grade:
AComments:
Excellent. What was not to like? It had a well balanced pace, great characters, and cheese. -
Willy Wonka
Grade:
B+Comments:
It was dark which was nice, Wonka was done well (I had my doubts going in). Unfortunately it had a happy ending. We all know what I think of happy endings/ -
Last Life in the Universe
Grade:
B+Comments:
The tail of how a strange relationship developes accross cultures and languages. Take the theme, throw in some criminal rings and add suicidal tendencies to the main character to keep things going and you too can be the last lizard. -
Shaolin Soccer (Siu lam juk kau)
Grade:
A-Comments:
What do you get when you cross mighty ducks with the karate kid? A very funny movie. Both a fung foo and soccer movie, it also parodies those forms. Be sure to watch the full length sub-titled version, not the cut down dubber version. "Soccer is war, never forget that" -
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Grade:
BComments:
Ah, a movie that doesn't end on a happy note. I like those. A bit over the top at times, but had a narrator, which made for a nice change of style. -
The Incredible
Grade:
BComments:
Cute enough. Predictable though. -
The Bourne Supremacy
Grade:
B+Comments:
More action than the first, less development. Fortunately, they killed of a character that could have cause more of the later and less of the former. -
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Grade:
BComments:
Yea, this one is old, but I saw it in a theater so it counts. Sure, one can see why it is a classic, worth seeing once I suppose. -
King Arthur
Grade:
CComments:
Way too much put upon hero. And did I mention the "let's make this PC" attitude? -
Spiderman 2
Grade:
B-Comments:
Not bad, but not great. Nothing memorable. -
The Stepford Wives
Grade:
B-Comments:
So many plot holes. But it was a bit different and the style had a high production vaules independent film feal to it. -
Harry Potter 3
Grade:
A-Comments:
Much better acting and directing than the earlier attempts. A much better adaptation of the book to a movie. There were a few plot strangenesses one would see if one hadn't read the book though. -
Raising Helen
Grade:
B-Comments:
Almost good. Would have made a great serious movie (with a touch of humor) had the entire love story not taken so much of the movie. -
The Day After Tomorrow
Grade:
DComments:
The most amazingly grade-C disaster movie I've seen since Astroid. -
Shrek 2
Grade:
AComments:
Finally something gets a straight A! Well executed, nice anamation, excellent humor, good voice acting, peppy music, fabulously choreographed battle sequence. What is not to like? -
Mean Girls
Grade:
BComments:
Remarkably like confessions of a teage drama queen, but better. An entertaining and fluffy movie. Good integration of seamless imagination sequences. -
Envy
Grade:
D-Comments:
What was there to redeam this movie? -
Man On Fire
Grade:
BComments:
A good story and with good acting. Unfortunately the camera work was distracting. -
Kill Bill volume 2
Grade:
BComments:
If the first movie had as much blood as the pacific, this one filled a shot glass. An altogeather much better movie than the first. -
13 Going On 30
Grade:
B-Comments:
A standard go forward in time, not like your life, go back in time and fix it. A cute movie. My biggest complaint is her world was collapsing around her and we didn't get to watch it. -
Ella Enchanted
Grade:
DComments:
It had promise. It was rather silly. It was not consistent in flow or humor or interest. -
Hidalgo
Grade:
C-Comments:
An altogeather unspectacular movie. Very predictable. Untenable plot. The usual I guess. -
Starsky and Hutch
Grade:
B+Comments:
Non presumptive, entertaining movie. Very good character interaction. A good thing to watch when you just want to be entertained by a comedy. "Do it" -
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Grade:
B-Comments:
An easy to forget movie. 2 months after it I barely remeber it. -
Scooby Doo 2
Grade:
DComments:
What a loosy movie. The acting was terible, the directing was bad, the delivery of lines was cheasy, the lines were cheasy, and the movie was far too "everybody is fine the way they are" preachy. -
Eurotrip
Grade:
B-Comments:
I went into this movie expecting a bunch of borish humor (aka Austin Powers). There was certainly some, but the movie actually had some clever parts to it. The previews and posters did not do it justice (in fact they made me want not to see it). -
The Passion of the Christ
Grade:
B-Comments:
I was a bit dissapointed. The portrail of Mary was interesting (I never knew she could be so stoic). The final death scene, and all scenes involving the devil were a bit overdone. I was annoyed at the careful placement of all the clasic relics. -
Miracle
Grade:
CComments:
There was nothing to provide any interest to this movie. The movie was about hockey. They practiced, they lost, they one. Nothing exciting there. The side plots, however, were... Wait, what side plots? Oh yes. Although there were several side stories that could have made the movie interesting, they were ignored and a very bland movie was produced, with nothing to make it interesting. -
Butterfly Effect
Grade:
CComments:
The first part was full of cheap startles. The second half desparately tried to make the first part make sense. The acting left much to be desired. It was as if all involved were only making a half-hearted effort. -
Win a Date With Tad Hamelton
Grade:
BComments:
Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it predictable? Yes. Was it far to cheery? Yes. Was it marginally entertaining? I guess. -
Big Fish
Grade:
B-Comments:
I was watching this thinking, "I've seen this movie before". I have. It was called Secondhand Lions. Not only was the plot the same, the storytelling was done in the same style. This movie had better production values, but was otherwise a less interesting story than Secondhand lions. -
Somethings Gotta Give
Grade:
A-Comments:
An cute and amusing tale. Well done with good acting. An overall enjoyable movie. -
Master and Commander
Grade:
B+Comments:
I heard many complaints about the middle of the movie, but that was the best part. There was plot, rather a novelty these days. The action sequences were good, but at least the first one was not essential to the movie, and prepared you for action, when none would come for another 90 minutes. -
Elf
Grade:
BComments:
Just when you though it couldn't get more over the top, you get to the climax. -
SCHOOL of ROCK
Grade:
B+Comments:
Funny, surprisingly clever. Formulayic, but done well. -
KILL BILL Volume 1
Grade:
D-Comments:
Extreemly gory. If there was less blood and gore, it would have been much better. There was what could have been a good story line there. -
Intolerable Cruelty
Grade:
D-Comments:
Intolerable. Porported to be a romantic commedy, but was stupid. Could have had a good ending at several points, but rather the cheesiest ending you could come up with was used. -
Under the Tuscan Sun
Grade:
CComments:
OK, I don't have the necessary genetic configuration to like this movie. However, it was very well made, and I didn't feal like leaving the theater (unlike some movies I've seen). -
Secondhand Lions
Grade:
BComments:
Entertaining. However, the producers tried to add "cute" bits of hummor to the sets, and it came off as trying to hard, or rather it was not well integrated. The ending could have used work. The last few minutes should not have existed. -
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Grade:
BComments:
The references to the ride at Disney were funny. The plot was week. The acting was ok. The portrail of Captain Jack Sparrow was overboard. Otherwise entertaining and relentless in story movement. -
Matchstick Men
Grade:
A-Comments:
Although the movie was slow, it was interesting. I was very releaved to see a decent movie in the midst of all the other sorry excuses that made their way to the theaters in the same timeframe. Not the most unexpected or original of plot twists, but well done. -
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Grade:
B-Comments:
Much better than the first. With more work, this series could become the next James Bond. The action move along better, the movie had a much more integrated, better thought out feal than the first. -
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Grade:
CComments:
If it were not for the ending, this movie would have been a waste of time. It was refreshing to see a movie not afraid to have an unhappy ending. Otherwise the action was pointless and unrelenting. The characters were flat and the dialog was uninspired. The plot was almost nonexistent. Then the ending came. -
The Matrix
Grade:
A- -
Matrix Reloaded (2)
Grade:
D+ -
Matrix Revolution (3)
Grade:
C-