Iron Man

Iron Man (2008)

Directed by Jon Favreau
Starring Robert Downey Jr. & Jeff Bridges

Iron Man was the first big film in a summer full of blockbusters. Earning more than $300 Million at the box office, the super hero flick garnered plenty of praise from both critics and audiences.

Acting: (8) Much ado was made over Robert Downey's portrayal of Tony Stark. Downey's wit and bravado are a welcome change to Marvel's typical heroes. This movie was the perfect vehicle to re-introduce Downey's enormous talent to a wide scale audience. His performance was matched by Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane. Everything about Bridges' look says villian. This summer was all about raising the standards for acting in comic book films.

Effects: (8.5) This film features plenty of high velocity sequences as well as your standard explosions and futuristic tech gear. However, it doesn't go over board with the effects. Favreau features just enough nerd eye candy to please the fanboys, but wisely choose to use the characters as the main engine for the film's story. In this case, less is more.

Plot: (7.5) Basically your standard "Origins" film. The ordinary man finds his calling and identifies his power while a former friend reveals himself to be his greatest enemy. This plot probably hits a bit too close to home for Peter Parker and Clark Kent, but it none the less succedes in drawing the audience in and making them care about Stark and his affliction.

Entertainment: (7.5) Downey is worth the price of admission, but I wasn't as blown away as the hype machine told me that I would be. It's certainly a fine example of the genre, but not quite a classic.

Overall: 7.5

Away from Her (2007)

Away from Her (2007)
Directed By: Sarah Polley
Starring: Gordon Pinsent, Julie Christie






Acting: (7.5) Solid performances all around although I personally feel that Julie Christie's performance was a little overrated. She played the role wonderfully, but I didn't feel it to be Oscar worthy.

Effects / Cinematography: (7) Nothing great, nothing bad

Plot: (8) All in all it hit entirely too close to home, but at the same time I can appreciate the performance of Pinsent and his attempt to live life without his wife (in mind). I think there were some items that were not detailed properly (Pinsent's affair being the main one), but as it is a book adaptation there are certain assumptions that the director can make with the story.

Entertainment: (7.5) An above average movie that takes on a topic very close to my heart. I think it was very effective without being over dramatic.

Cumulative: (7.5)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents.....

I used this week to become aquainted with the work of legendary director, Alfred Hitchcock. The only Hitchcock film I seen previously was The Birds. This week I saw 5 Hitchcock films spanning 3 decades. I also found time for a classic romantic comedy and a few others as well.


Vertigo (1958)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Starring James Stewart & Kim Novak

Acting: (8.5)
Effects / Cinematography: (8.5)
Plot: (9)
Entertainment: (7.5)

Overall: (8.5)






Other Hitchcock Films:

North by Northwest (1959)
Starring Cary Grant

Acting: (8)
Effects: (7)
Plot: (8.5)
Entertainment: (8)

Marnie (1964)
Starring Tippy Hedren & Sean Connery

Acting: (7.5)
Effects: (6)
Plot: (7.5)
Entertainment: (7)

Overall: (7)

Torn Curtain (1966)
Starring Paul Newman & Julie Andrews

Acting: (8)
Effects: (6.5)
Plot: (8)
Entertainment: (7.5)

Overall: (7.5)

Frenzy (1972)
Starring Jon Finch

Acting: (6.5)
Effects: (6)
Plot: (7)
Entertainment: (6)

Overall: (6)


Other Films from this week:

When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Directed by Rob Reiner
Starring Billy Crystal & Meg Ryan

Acting: (8)
Effects: (7)
Plot: (7)
Entertainment: (7.5)

Overall: (7)

Streek Kings (2008)
Directed by David Ayer
Starring Keanu Reeves & Forrest Whitaker

Acting: (4)
Effects: (6)
Plot: (5)
Entertainment: (3.5)

Overall: (4.5)


Minority Report (2002) - Re Watch
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Tom Cruise

Acting: (7)
Effects: (9)
Plot: (8.5)
Entertainment: (8)

Overall: (8)

The Devil Wears Prada (2005) - Re Watch
Directed by David Frankel
Starring Anne Hathaway & Meryl Streep

Acting: (8.5)
Effects: (7.5)
Plot: (8)
Entertainment: (8.5)

Overall (8)

Week In Reviews 8-11 / 8-17

Despite being captivated by the Olympics most of the week, I still managed to squeeze in 5 movies over the weekend.

Chariots of Fire (1981) * Best Picture Winner

Directed by Hugh Hudson
Starring Ben Cross & Ian Charleson

Acting: (8)
Effects / Cinematography: (7)
Plot: (6)
Experience: (5)

Overall: (6.5)



Smart People (2008)

Directed by Noam Murro
Starring Dennis Quaid & Ellen Page

Acting: (8)
Effects / Cinematography: (6)
Plot: (6.5)
Experience: (7.5)

Overall: (7)


Total Recall (1990)

Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger & Sharon Stone

Acting: (4.5)
Effects: (7.5)
Plot: (7.5)
Experience: (5.5)

Overall: (6)

Harold & Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

Directed by Jon Hurwitz
Starring Kal Penn & John Cho

Acting: (4.5)
Effects: (5)
Plot: (4.5)
Entertainment: (4)

Overall: (4.5)

Penelope (2008)

Directed by Mark Palansky
Starring Christina Ricci & James McAvoy

Acting: (6)
Effects: (7)
Plot: (6.5)
Experience: (6)

Overall (6)

Back with a Vengance

No, I didn't completely stop watching movies for 2 months. I've just been a bit lazy about posting my thoughts. I've actually been quite active in terms of movie watching. Because my time still has some value to me, I'm not going to even attempt to post reviews from all the films that I've watched since my last post. Instead, I'll focus on the four films I watched this weekend while my wife was away for a wedding.

Batman Begins (2005)

Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale & Katie Holmes

I saw this film when it was first released on DVD. I figured I'd get myself familiar with the story line once again with the anticipation of viewing the Dark Knight soon.

Acting: (8.5) The overall performances from a stellar cast far surpass typical comic book movies. The talentless Holmes and few corny lines of dialouge are the only thing keeping me from giving out a 9.

Effects / Cinematography: (9) This is obviously where most comic book movies focus their efforts. Batman Begins stands alone in terms of cinematography. While the effects aren't quite as big and flashy as Spidy or Hulk, the camera work is superb. Nolan's Gotham is haunting, but familiar.

Plot: (8) Here is where most comic book movies ask the viewer to give up reason and simply enjoy the ride. This is a film about the origin of Batman. Compared to other stories that I've seen, it's pretty good. In fact, it's probably the most plausible story of origin for a super hero that I can remember.

Experience: (8.5) Batman Begins is as good as any comic book movie that I've seen. I hesitate say it's the best only because of Spiderman 2. Either way, it provides solid drama and incredible action.

Cumulative: (8.5)


Others this Weekend:

Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Directed by Michael Gondry
Starring Jack Black & Mos Def

Acting: 5.5
Effects: 5
Plot: 7
Experience: 6

Overall: 5.5


The Bank Job (2008)
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Starring Jason Statham

Acting: 6.5
Effects: 6
Plot: 7.5
Experience: 6

Overall: 6.5

Drillbit Taylor (2008)
Directed by Steven Brill
Starring Owen Wilson & Leslie Mann

Acting: 4.5
Effects: 5
Plot: 4
Experience: 4.5

Overall: 4.5

Finally!

July has been a rough month for movie watching and with all the traveling and everything else that has been going on I just haven't had the time to plop down and watch a bunch of movies. That said we made it out on Friday night to the $2 theater to catch Baby Mama, which wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.





Baby Mama (2008)
Directed By: Michael McCullers
Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler




Acting: (7) I haven't figured out what it is about Tina Fey, but she is awesome and to be completely honest I think she is one the prettiest women in Hollywood. I guess growing up in a small town we didn't have a bunch of Hollywood beauties walking the halls of our high school so Fey represents a more realistic view of the women I have met over the course of my life. While at times the movie fell into an extended SNL skit it was entertaining even though it was predictable.

Effects / Cinematography: (5) Nothing sticks out.

Plot: (6) Maybe predictable, but I generously gave it a slightly above average mark. There was some originality baked in there....somewhere.

Entertainment: (6.5) I was pleasantly entertained and it rated slightly higher than I expected.

Cumulative: (6.125) If I had spent $20 to see this I probably would have rated it lower, but having only paid $4.50 I feel that I got decent value. Worth seeing once.





Elizabeth (1998)
Directed By: Shekhar Kapur
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes




Acting: (7) Blanchett was decent although I think this is her weakest performance to date that I have seen. She is one of my favorite actresses too. Also the supporting cast was nothing special and outside of Geoffrey Rush no one else stood out. It should be noted that it is almost impossible for a movie with Vincent Cassel to be any good. I just looked on his filmography and I hope that when I get around to watching Brotherhood of the Wolf again he doesn't ruin that film for me as well.

Effects / Cinematography: (5) For being a period piece with extravagant gowns, etc. this was absolutely plain. The music and effects were completely average and the costumes come no where close to matching the likes of an Amadeus or a Gladiator.

Plot: (7) Interesting to the extent that I knew little about Queen Elizabeth prior to this movie.

Entertainment: (6)

Cumulative: (6.25) Blanchett and Rush make it watchable, but the rest of the film is average at best.





Serpico (1973)
Directed By: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Al Pacino





Acting: (7) Pacino is decent, but I don't think this performance was incredible by any means.

Effects / Cinematography: (5.5) Completely average nothing horrible, nothing great.

Plot: (6) True life story sure, but I wasn't that taken by it.

Entertainment: (6)

Cumulative: (6.125) Pales in comparison to all of the modern cop dramas. There was nothing unique for me in this film.

What Happens in Vegas

It was a slow movie week for me as we were busy during the holiday weekend and I haven't been able to finish a couple other movies. That said the wife wanted to see a movie on Thursday night and this was the only movie playing at the $2 theater that we had not seen.






What Happens in Vegas (2008)
Directed By: Tom Vaughan
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher




Acting: (2.5) The amazing thing here is not that Ashton Kutcher was not very good, or that Cameron Diaz was her average self (I am not a fan, and I do not think she is good looking...at all), but how incredibly awful the supporting cast was. You may remember Rob Corddry from his role as Warren in Old School or how about the Gun Salesman in Failure to Launch. No? Neither one? Really? Well you will remember his performance here. As being absolutely horrendous. Maybe it was the script, but maybe it is him. Nothing that came out of his mouth was even semi-amusing and his on screen banter with the also atrocious Lake Bell (From "" oh yeah nothing because this is her first role in a recognizable movie) made Diaz and Kutcher look like Oscar winners. I almost wanted to run home and watch Just Married and Any Given Sunday to see if I truly mis-rated them all these years. Turns out that when you surround them with a horrible supporting cast they are still just average.

Effects / Cinematography: (5.5) Completely average nothing horrible, nothing great.

Plot: (2) I was generous when it came to plot, I mean what can be more original than people getting wasted and then getting hitched in Vegas.

Entertainment: (4) I laughed twice and once again was probably too generous.

Cumulative: (3.5) Let's just say I ran home and immediately watched Gladiator to purge all of this movie from my brain. I'm glad the wife was entertained by it (Even she wouldn't admit to it being good).