Quantum of Solace

January 27th - Quantum Of Solace

I'm not going to do a big thing on Quantum of Solace I've seen it several times and it's not new anymore. I will say this, this movie has nothing on Casino Royale. The direction is no where near as good and the action scenes are hard to follow and just not as original as Casino Royale.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

January 22nd - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Well I just watched Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which was an interesting film to say the least. Just as everyone before me has said the movie was good and Nicolas Cage shined throughout the entire thing. He really did give one of the best performances I've ever seen him give. Eva Mendes was also pretty decent in the film along with Val Kilmer. Xzibit even put on a decent show as one of the main drug dealers.

For those of you who don't know Bad Lieutenant is the story of a police officer in post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. He is promoted to lieutenant after he dives in a flooding jail cell to rescue a locked up prisoner and hurts his back. The film is about the lieutenant trying to solve a multiple homicide by a drug dealer and dealing with his prostitute girlfriend while taking copious amounts of Heroine, Cocaine, Vicodin, and pretty much any other drug he can get his hands on.

The movie was directed by Werner Herzog, who i know from his films Grizzly Man and Rescue Dawn. Herzog makes some interesting choices in the film and some just down right weird camera shots. On more than one occasion there are minute long takes of an iguana or an alligator just sitting somewhere. Overall it works because you find yourself confused about what the hell is going on but it keeps you interested and gives you some insight into what Cage's character is going through.

The movie itself wasn't spectacular and it did drag a little bit in the middle, but the ending more than made up for it. I don't want to give anything away because i know that the film isn't released on DVD yet and it only played limited for the most part, but it's very entertaining the way everything comes together. When it does come out I would recommend a rental or if you are a big Cage or Herzog fan pick it up, you won't be let down.

The Lovely Bones

January 18th - The Lovely Bones

First off, I just want to state that I haven't read the book on which the film was based on. Having said that I was very excited for this to come out and pretty upset when they decided to keep pushing back the release date. I'm a Peter Jackson fan, I've seen everything from Bad Taste and The Frighteners to The Lord of the Rings and King Kong. So, naturally I was excited to see the film, which in the trailers looked visually stunning and deeply moving.

The film was a pretty big letdown. I found it so hard to believe that it was getting such bad reviews but now that I've seen it I can understand why.

The film isn't completely terrible though, if you look at the pieces of it and not the whole picture it has several good parts. The main problem with the film was its awkward pacing. The film kept traveling between the in-between in which the dead Suzie is watching her family and the real world where her family is falling apart. There are moments where it flows great but then there are montage resemblant scenes with Suzie and her new found friend Holly and a mess of a scene with Susan Sarandon.

The moments in which the film really shines come from the moments of suspense, Jackson's background in horror (comedies) really comes through here. The cinematography in it is well done except there are a few cliche flashback scenes where the film trails. There are plenty of extreme close up shots and slow dolly shots which ramp up the tension considerably. The sound is also great, particularly the scene where Suzie's sister Lindsey breaks into the house.

Just as the trailer promised the film was a visual treat, the only problem was it didn't really add to the story or give any type of explanation for it. In my opinion it probably detracted from the film. It looks great when the tree turns into birds and they all fly away and when the rose blooms in the ice, and yes I realize they both come up later in the film and it did add a sort of foreshadowing for the film, but it just wasn't needed.

The acting by Saoirse Ronan was great, she played her character perfectly. Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg give good performances but not stand out by any means. They both have their share of awkward moments. Susan Sarandon is a mess in the film, though that was her character, I suppose she did an alright job with what she was given but I expected something different I suppose.

My biggest complaint, and as I stated earlier I haven't read the book. So I'm not sure if the problem was in the source material or if it just didn't translate well, but the ending was terrible. Trying to give away as little as possible. There was no need for the film to end that way. It should have ended with the scene with the Safe and then the lovely bones line and not the way it did.

I wouldn't say avoid this film because parts of it were very god but don't feel the need to rush out and see this one, wait for the Blu-ray or DVD release.

Little Nemo!

January 16th - Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland

Great film, it's been a long time since I've seen it and it's surprising how well it's held up. It's still an excellent film and very well animated.

The Hurt Locker

January 12th part 2 - The Hurt Locker

I've got to say, I was really disappointed with the Hurt Locker, don't get me wrong the movie was amazing, but Guy Pearce was only in it for 10 minutes or so. Why doesn't any one use him more? Anyways, I apologize for the very mild spoiler.

The Hurt Locker was very well done and very gritty and realistic. Kathryn Bigelow directs the film in a faux documentary style which proves to be very effective.

Jeremy Renner plays Staff Sgt James, the leader of Bravo team, almost perfectly. He's believable and he pulls of the careless attitude well. The scenes in which he really shines though, are the ones where he's showing some range in emotion. The scene where he finds his dead friend is great. My favorite though, was when he was trying to explain why he is able to do his job when he has a son at home. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are both great in the film as well. Mackie has a bit more to work with as Sgt Sanborn than Geraghty does as Specialist Eldridge. It would have been nice to see more from Eldridge, who spends most of the film remorseful at not taking down an enemy before he killed his previous staff sergeant.

I found myself relating to the characters very easily, and more importantly, I found myself relating to what they were feeling. There was more than one occasion when i felt that awkward feeling inside my stomach watching as a soldier lost control. One scene in particular that stands out pits two team members under the influence of alcohol against each other. The scene is very intense and almost difficult to watch.

Their are several scenes that were very realistic but none more so than the sniper battle. Which is basically a long standoff with out much happening. It's a nice change to see a realistic sniper battle versus someone running around firing miraculous shots hitting the enemy square in the forehead. The battle lasts several hours and the majority of it has Sanborn and James laying on a pile of rocks with flies flying all over their faces. This among other things in the film really added to the level of realism the film portrays.

The film over all was well done. The faux documentary style took a little bit for me to get used to it, but definitely adds to the film later on. It's good to see a modern war movie that doesn't come across too preachy and is believably executed. I look forward to seeing more from Bigelow in the future, as this film will no doubt get her some Oscar attention, and as always I look forward to seeing more Guy Pearce in the future as well.

January 13th - Avatar IMAX 3D (2nd viewing)

Jennifer's Body

January 12th - Jennifer's Body

Wow, I was surprised by this film, it's pretty much complete garbage. I hadn't been expecting much but I was hoping for more than what I got. Karyn Kusama directs the film written by Juno scribe Diablo Cody, starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried.

I'll be up front with you, I don't like Megan Fox, I don't find her to be that attractive and I don't understand why so many do. I'll also let you know that I liked Juno, a lot. I loved Cody's script and i enjoyed the quirkiness of the language she created for it.

This script I do not love, or even like. It's almost like Cody took all that quirkiness from the Juno script and replaced it with vulgar references to sex and periods. There's a line in the film where Megan Fox is stabbed and while she's bleeding she asks for a tampon from Amanda Seyfried, when Amanda's character replies no Megan Fox says "oh just thought I'd ask, you seem like you might be plugging." Most of the film is full of garbage lines like that.

Also I apologize for not remembering Amanda Seyfried's character, it just goes to show how little I cared about anyone in the film and by not looking it up, my laziness should show how little I care about the film as well.

Kusama's directing is nothing great it's cliche at best and pretty lame at parts. The story it self is also pretty bad, I won't ruin it for those of you hoping to see it still.

On another note I did pick up Moon and as soon as Best Buy gets their shit together I will get a copy of the Hurt Locker, so I guess I have that to look forward to.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox!

January 11th - The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Just finished the Fantastic Mr. Fox, I thought it was very well done. I'm a huge Wes Anderson fan to begin with and I've always admired his films. He shoots them all with a certain sense of symmetry that I've always found appealing. His first animated feature is no different. The horizons always line up perfectly horizontal and everything flows very nicely in his settings. It was also great to see the scenes with the walls to his house and the sewer removed allowing the camera to slowly slide down and around showing all the rooms and what's going on in them at once. He used this in Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou as well but it was neat to see it here.

The film itself is a fun tale full of comedic moments and heartfelt messages. I really enjoyed Jason Schwartzman's character, who was "different" and always a good laugh. Schwartzman did a great job with the voice acting as well. The film is definitely one of my favorite animated films and i feel confident that it will land somewhere in my top 10 list of the year. I know i should have this done already but i needed to catch up on a few things first. Anyways, just a few thoughts on the movie.

First post

This is my first post on this blog, which hopefully will be used to comment on films I have recently seen. I also want to use this blog to keep track of all the films I watch from here on out. So, to start things off I'm going to play catch up and just list the last few films I've seen and the dates on which i saw them.

January 1st - started things off with a movie marathon, we watched:

Akira
Dream Team

Warriors (my choice)

Sense and Sensibility

January 6th - District 9

January 7th - Whip It

January 10th -

Insomnia

Daybreakers