Category: Movie Review (Page 4 of 9)

The Matrix (1999) is the brain-racking story about how machines took over the world, and are creating a virtual world [The Matrix] that tricks the imprisoned humans’ minds. Neo (Keanu Reeves) gets called over to the real world (out of the Matrix) because it is thought he is the chosen one. Only through him can the war between the machines and the humans end. That is, if he is really the chosen one…

This film is a major thinker with an incredibly complex, inventive story. The most recent film I can think of that compares to it is Inception. If you have not yet seen this piece of filmographic history, I suggest you buy it now. (You can get the trilogy at Walmart for like $13).

The acting is spectacular. The music is good. The effects are awesome (even with today’s standards).

This film is in my top ten best films ever. It changed the way films were being made. It changed the way films were being watched. It definitely is a work of art.

The Matrix runs 136 minutes and is rated R. This is not a film you should show to your kids. I give it 10 ramheads out of 10.

A couple days ago I was privileged to view Dinner for Schmucks (2010). I was expecting to enjoy it, but not nearly as much as I did. Hilarious slapstick gold.

Paul Rudd plays a guy who’s trying to move up in his company. In order to do so, his boss is making him attend a dinner, but he has to invite one interesting idiot. Then he meets Barry. By meets, I mean hit with his car. Barry (Steve Carell) is a clueless, lovable man who likes taxidermy-ed mice. He is amazing. Perfect. He makes a mess, but you still love him. The film also features Zach Galifianakis (from The Hangover), Jemaine Clement (The Flight of the Conchords), and Jeff Dunham (in a small role).

The story is interesting, the acting is phenomenal, and the humor is the funniest I’ve seen since Anchorman. Props to Steve Carell.

Dinner for Schmucks runs 114 minutes and is rated PG-13. I would abide by the 13 rule. I give it a deserved 9 ramheads out of 10.

…I just watched License to Wed (2007). It stars Robin Williams as Reverend Frank who takes Mandy Moore and The Office‘s John Krasinski through extreme premarital counseling.

Just a precursor: this film is not the best ever, nor does it pretend to be. It is a humorous, light, romantic comedy with a decent message. It does miss a lot of points, especially with a reverend as a main character. God is only mentioned and the premarital sex is not at all frowned upon.

It’s not my favorite film, but it is one that I’ve watched–and laughed at–more than once. License to Wed runs 91 minutes and is rated PG-13. I give a replayable, above average rating of 7 ramheads out of 10.

Nope, this review has nothing to do with Kermit the Frog. I’ll be reviewing Shrek the Third (2007). I’m going to make this one quick.

Shrek doesn’t want to be king, so he has to find the only other heir to the throne. This turns out to be whiny Artie (voiced by Justin Timberlake). Prince Charming is the villain (who is also really annoying). Pretty much, there’s 40% good old Shrek, 50% annoying Artie and Charming, and 10% obnoxious happy ending. When I say obnoxious, I definitely mean it. Uber obnoxious.

This is the worst of the 4 Shrek movies.

Shrek the Third runs 93 minutes and is rated PG. I give it 4 ramheads out of 10.

Here’s my super-quick review of Skrek Forever After (2010). Shrek has a moment of weakness (and alcohol). He makes a deal which changes everything for the worse unless he can fix it. A classic, “don’t-know-what-you’ve-got-’til-it’s-gone” theme. Pretty entertaining humor. Shrek. 4. The end.

Decent entertaining movie with minimal lasting impression. Not as good as the first, but on par or better than 2 or 3. It runs 93 minutes and is rated PG. I give it 6 out of 10 ramheads.

No, this post has nothing to do with Susan Boyle. It does have to do with dreams. Inception (2010) is a film all about dreams.

This is going to be a spoiler-free post, so if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry. Inception, in general terms is a brainy action-adventure film that deals with going into dreams with more than one person. That’s all I’m going to say.

My first impression of this film was “Wow, that was COMPLEX!” In all honesty, this might have been the most complex and biggest ‘thinker’ movie I’ve ever seen. (The Matrix series is a close second.) You need to be pretty intelligent to successfully watch this film.

The concepts are amazing. The writing and imagination is quite incredible. The characters are relate-able humans, but still are incredibly impressive. The acting was phenomenal. Leonardo DiCaprio is an extraordinarily talented actor. He gets into the role like none other. The supporting cast was solid (Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe). The music was excellent. Hans Zimmer rarely disappoints.

Inception was stunning, brain exercise that really worked. This is what movies are all about. I would give it an Oscar (or a few). Christopher Nolan does it again. It runs 148 minutes and is rated PG-13. I give it what it deserves: 10 ramheads out of 10.
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A couple weeks ago I reviewed High School Musical 3 and didn’t give it great marks. Today, for comparison’s sake, here’s my review of the first High School Musical (2006).

The first time I watched it, it greatly annoyed me. That is because I expected it to and I wanted it to because of what I had heard about it. As my sister watched it more and more times, I saw parts of it and started liking some of the songs. (Yeah, that’s right.) Then I was impressed with the dancing. Really impressed. This made-for-TV movie doesn’t feature a greatly impressive plot, polished editing, or perfection, but what it has is honesty. This is High School Musical before the “HSM franchise” and popularity. It is a Disney Channel Original Movie. It’s real. I don’t like this movie because of the popularity, but for what it is. For the fact that it promotes the arts, and doing a little of everything, and its anti-clique attitude.

High School Musical shows that song and dance aren’t lame. The dancing and songs are polished and practiced and downright impressive. The actors (especially Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens) have chemistry. [Their on screen chemistry led to a relationship…] That chemistry was missing in HSM3.

Well, that’s all I have for you tonight…

High School Musical runs 98 minutes and is rated TV-G (definitely a family film). I give it 8 ramheads out of 10 for being real and for not selling out (yet).
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This week I watched a couple of mildly popular films that my siblings got from the library. Here’s a quick rundown:

The first one, RV (2006) stars Robin Williams in a slap-stick comedy about family, RVing, and life. It is a cheesy emotional family film wrapped in slap-stick humor. It was pretty funny, pretty ridiculous, and entertaing. It was not, though, amazing. It will entertain you, but won’t make you feel like you just watched something awesome. It is rated PG and runs 99 minutes. I give it an average 5 ramheads out of 10.The second one I watched, 17 Again (2009) stars Zac Efron in a cheesy, predictable yet entertaining family-comedy. Efron does a great job. Period. This film is packed with awkward funny moments, the kind in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I loved them. There are a few cheesy effects, but otherwise this is a funny, nice movie. It runs 102 minutes and is rated PG-13 (barely). I give it a likeable 7 ramheads out of 10.
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Here’s another quicky review:

Bicentennial Man (1999) is a modern day Pinocchio. Robin Williams plays Andrew, an android that has innate personality, emotions, and capability to love. Encouraged by Sir (Sam Neill) he learns how to be human, makes millions of dollars, and eventually requests freedom (which happens to be one of the themes). This film makes one think about the important things in life. Long story short, I love this sci-fi Robin Williams epic.

Bicentennial Man runs 132 minutes and is rated PG. Definitely a family film. I give it 8 ramheads out of 10 (it’s not perfect, but very good).

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