Category: Movie Review (Page 7 of 9)

Everyone I’ve talked to whose seen Fight Club (1999)raves about it, so I figured I’d watch it…

I was pleasantly surprised with the complexity and the story, but unimpressed with the language: this film has a lot of strong language.

In brief, Fight Club is an excellent film, one that you can watch more than once, but there is a lot of language. The violence, which is also prevalent, doesn’t really bother me, but the language does. I know it is necessary for the story, but still. I’ve discovered that I like the movies that have limited strong language better than those with it a lot of language. I think it is because of the way I was raised.

The acting is flawless: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter are all great. The filmography is excellent and the music is perfect. ’nuff said.

I acknowledge this films awesomeness, and wouldn’t mind seeing it again. Fight Club runs 139 minutes and is rated R. DO NOT show this to kids. Not even close. I give it 9 ramheads out of 10 (one ramhead taken for the language).

While browsing the DVDs at my local library, I came across Citizen Kane, the 1941 Academy Award winning classic, starring Orson Welles. I had heard of it, and knew it was considered a classic. I figured I’d culture myself and watch it.

While this film does not have amazing action scenes, dazzling special effects, or even an exciting story, it does capture the essence of man. Man who was given away for money. Man who could get almost anything he wanted. We journeyed with that man. We saw that man at his best, though he never achieved what he could, and we saw him at his worst.

Charles Foster Kane didn’t have God, he never really loved, and he strove for the love of others, to win the hearts of the people. His people.

I thought the film was brilliantly written, with the perfect ending. I would recommend anyone who is mature enough to watch it. It earned the title classic.

Citizen Kane was made before ratings, but I wouldn’t show it to kids, they wouldn’t get it and would probably be bored. I give it 9 ramheads out of 10.

*I SAW IT AGAIN IN 3D AND DECIDED TO UPDATE THIS REVIEW*

While watching Avatar for the first time, all I could think was, “Wow.” Ever since I left, all I could think was, “I want to see it again.” I actually did see it again. Yeah, I loved Avatar.

To start, James Cameron’s epic was visually amazing. The Na’vi looked real. Pandora looked stunning. The creatures were convincing. The human weapons, ships, robots were also realistic and believable. But enough about the CG and special effects, what about the story?

Many action movies and sci-fi movies don’t have much of a plot. Avatar does not fall in this category. Cameron layers this story, intertwining numerous different themes.

The first evident theme is shown by Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Quaritch is hardcore, hardened military man. He shows no mercy to his enemies and is quick to decide you are his enemy. He had an unwavering prejudice of the Na’vi and those who side with them. He is eager to fight them. The underlining theme here is that some like Quaritch fight first, ask questions later. Military is shown in a negative light in this film, but it really isn’t military, they are hired “security”. This brings me to the next theme woven into this film.

The next theme is that of corporate greed. Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) is trying to please shareholders by destroying the home of the Na’vi to get the conveniently named unobtainium. He needs to make money at all costs. We see this around us every day. Greed. Love of money above the lives of others. It is sad, but true.

Another theme I’ve noticed is that of love. Jake falls in love with Neytiri. Cameron is good at telling stories like these (Titanic). Just to be clear, though, this is NOT the main theme. Sure it is there, but it does not consume the story.

I’ve only touched on those themes that are evident to me and more obvious. I’m sure there are many more–I just thought of one: redemption–but I just wanted to convey that this film is much more than pretty visuals and action. There is a heart and soul to this movie.

There was solid acting all around. They aren’t the biggest names in the film industry, but the actors in this film do their job. The musical score in this film is good, not great. James Horner’s score in some places is spectacular and in others somewhat generic. I’ve listened to it separate outside the movie (and obviously during the film) and I like it. It doesn’t match his work in Titanic, but it does the job well. On a side note, this movie doesn’t feature unnecessary sex scenes, swearing, or any other garbage featured in a lot of today’s movies; I was pleasantly surprised.

Finally, the 3D is cool, but not needed. I think in someways it really adds, but really, the film doesn’t need 3D to be a great film.

P.S. Cameron said if Avatar is successful, he might make up to 2 sequels to it.

I expected to enjoy this movie, but not this much. I’m not going to give any more away. I was truly drawn into the Avatar experience. I think you can be too.

Avatar runs 162 minutes and is rated PG-13. I give it 10 ramheads out of 10.

I just finished The Bourne Ultimatum last night and I decided that I should review the Bourne Series. The three movies are based on the Robert Ludlum novels from the 1980s (which I intend to read sometime in my lifetime.)

The Bourne Identity (2002) starts this CIA conspiracy story off and really gets the heart pounding. An action packed, well-written story like this is a rare find. The things that Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) does are not unrealistic, they’re just awesome. The story gets you rooting for Bourne and against the US government. It is impressive.

The Bourne Supremacy (2004) picks up where Identity left off. Jason and his girlfriend are hiding in India where a hit-man comes and tries to take Bourne out, and ends up killing his girlfriend. This pisses him off and he searches for the people who tried to kill him and gets tangled with the CIA again. He ultimately remembers some stuff from his past and deals with that while once again escaping CIA capture.

The third one, The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) is the most recent Bourne film and the best one yet. I liked the story, how things are resolved, and the action was phenomenal. It continues where Supremacy ended (and actually overlaps some times) and he’s trying to find out about how he became a brainwashed CIA agent/assassin. He does find out (but I’m not going to tell you how). There was some resolution in this one, including Bourne learning his real name, David Webb.

As far as the future goes, Matt Damon stated that he is working on a fourth Bourne film, which is good because those movies are really enjoyable and Damon does an excellent job.

All three movies are rated PG-13 and they run 119, 108, and 115 minutes respectively. This film isn’t as violent as Gladiator so I think most kids are ok watching it. I give the first 3 movies in the Bourne Series 8 ramheads out of 10 for solid action in a good plot.

Most people remember when Russell Crowe threw a phone at a housekeeping worker at a hotel. That was really funny, but kind of a letdown. Russell Crowe is a tremendous actor and I hope he lives a good life off screen. Gladiator, however, was no letdown.

This film also co-stars Jacquin Phoenix, who went AWOL with acting and had an awkward experience on Letterman in February. Phoenix is a great actor and does an awesome job as the villain in this film, and you really hate him.

The story was severely entertaining and superbly written. There was action a-plenty. The acting was near perfect. Hans Zimmer’s music is tremendous (but weirdly Pirate-esque). The special effects were seamless, especially when you realize that this film was released almost 10 years ago.

I had only one problem with this film. There are a few lines here and there that are mumbled and quiet that I had to rewind and listen to again (sometimes 3 times). That got to be a little annoying.

This film is an epic. It is rated R (i’m sure for violence) so any desensitized kid is ok watching it. I wouldn’t recommend it, but if they are already messed up with video game violence, this film won’t hurt any. It runs 155 minutes (unless you get the extended version on DVD). I give this really cool film 9 ramheads out of 10.

Yeah, you caught me. I watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine online, in an uncompleted format. Sure, the quality was low, but it still was a cool movie. And besides, I’m in college and I don’t have any money. That was last spring. This time I watched the completed, DVD quality version. The movie was pretty much the same, but the action was way better.

Origins has a somewhat complex plot for a comic book movie. It really took me two times (the second of which I was NOT tired) to really grasp the full effect and feel of this film. It is a highly interesting story, especially for someone like myself who has not read the comics. Ever since the first X-Men movie came out, I’ve always wondered what made Wolverine what he is. This story does that and more. It shows how other popular X-Men characters intertwined their origins with Wolverine’s.

Technically speaking, this movie is phenomenal. The special effects and action are heart-pounding. The music isn’t “go-out-and-buy-this-soundtrack” good, but it does a decent job. The acting is solid, Hugh Jackman is good as ever, and ripped as ever. Although I was really impressed with this movie it is far from perfect. It has a big plot, but doesn’t have a ton of substance: not really good verses evil, but good is seeking revenge, gets confused, gets screwed, then gets screwed again, then gets shot in the head and forgets everything. I give it 7 ramheads out of 10, I liked it, but it wasn’t standout. It is rated PG-13 and runs 107 minutes. You really can show this to your kids if you want, it isn’t that bad. Honestly, they’ll like the action (if they are boys) or just get confused with the plot (if they are girls).

This is going to be short and sweet. Valkyrie was a quality historical thriller that delves into the meat of WWII Nazi Germany. It taught me a lot of what I didn’t know and thoroughly entertained me as well. Tom Cruise is still a solid actor and his performance here proves it. Even though he’s a little crazy, he does a great English speaking rebel Nazi. The intensity of this movie kept me awake even though I was pretty tired. The technical aspects of this movie were also well done. Overall, I was entertained by this film.

The film is rated PG-13 for violence and language…I wouldn’t show this to anyone under 13. There is a good deal of violence and language. It runs 120 minutes. I give it an above-average-but-not-the-best-film-I’ve-seen 7 ramheads out of 10.

So I was watching The Devil Wears Prada with some friends a few days ago….it was decent. Personally, I don’t think it was much more than decent. Sure the acting was good all around, no huge standout performances, but good, sound acting. The music was fine, I didn’t really notice it. It was pretty funny at times, but I wouldn’t consider it a comedy. I just thought this story was average. The film was based on a book, so if I were to go by the film, the book was average. I wouldn’t buy this film, I really have no interest in seeing it again. There are some good points made, but they don’t make this film stand out. Really, all this film has going for it is the humor.

I didn’t hate this film, it just didn’t stand out or make me want to see it again. It don’t think it deserved the 2 Oscar nominations it received. The Devil Wears Prada runs 109 minutes and is rated PG-13. I don’t think kids would really enjoy it, so don’t bother showing it to them. I give it 6 ramheads out of 10.

Julia Child was one of the most influential Americans to the “servantless” housewife. She taught America to cook and, more importantly, to eat. Julie and Julia is the story of two similar woman, in two different periods of time. It follows Julia Child learning to cook in France and Julie Powell, cooking through Child’s cookbook and blogging about it in Queens.

Meryl Streep does a brilliant job as Child and Amy Adams really gets you to root for her. Stanley Tucci does an awesome job as Paul Child (Julia’s husband). I thought the film-makers did a good job recreating the 50s Paris…and the 2002 New York. I was pleasantly surprised when this film featured married couples, and not just people living together. Dang society, making immorality the norm….

It is a cute little movie that will appeal mostly to those who can appreciate Julia Child and her impact on cooking in America. I took my fiance to see it last night, she grew up on Baking with Julia on PBS and she loved the movie. I can appreciate it, but it isn’t my favorite movie by any means. It is a cute, funny, heartwarming movie for any American who loves food, with a side of humor. If you have ever watched Julia Child, you will probably enjoy this movie.

The film is still in theatres, runs 123 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some language. Younger kids wouldn’t really get it. Older kids probably wouldn’t either. I wouldn’t bother taking them to see it unless they’ve seen Julia Child cooking shows.

I’ll give it 8 ramheads out of 10 for being a pleasantly nice movie.

I was there at the midnight showing, second in line with my fiance. We waited 4 1/2 hours in line to see this. It was worth every second.

That’s right, I really enjoyed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). It showcased the best acting I’ve seen in a Harry Potter movie, the best production value, and created the mood and setting extremely well.

This movie had a mixed setting: young love and terror of death. I truly believe that even though they left some things out from the book, and changed a few things to make them work on the big screen, this movie was a solid Harry Potter movie. It embodied everything a Harry Potter movie should, and did so–in my opinion–better than any of its predecessors. It created the setting, the magic, the story, and it did so believably. It didn’t lose any completely necessary part of the plot, and added only one unnecessary scene: the Burrow getting blown up. It was a good scene, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t feel it was needed for the story.

The acting in this film was significantly better than in previous Harry Potter films. Emma Watson, the actress who plays Hermione Granger, finally figured out that she doesn’t have to move her eyebrows when she speaks. Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) gives a spectacular performance. Jim Broadbent (Slughorn) is new to the Harry Potter films, but he does an awesome job as well.

The music did an excellent job of creating a dark and depressing mood when it needed to and a flirty funny mood during times of teen drama. The soundtrack is a good one.

The film is a well made film and could be enjoyed by those who are not Harry Potter fans.

This film is rated PG-13 and runs 153 minutes.

I give this one 9 out of 10 ramheads.