Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of good movies lately: Iron Man 2, Kick-Ass, How to Train Your Dragon. And then I’ve also seen Nightmare on Elm Street. Would write about them but eh.. it wouldn’t be that interesting. Well maybe Dragon would be but I digress. In case you’re fairly dense, the movie I’m writing about today is Clash of the Titans.

Went into the movie not expecting much. Just knew that it’d be a fairly good action ride. But sadly that was wrong. It was a freakin’ awesome action ride! Sure the story was barely passable, the acting was decent, and the 3D was shit, but man, if you want a good amount of fun, Clash of the Titans is the movie for you! I’d say it rivals Iron Man 2 in that regard.

Hmm.. wow. I guess that’s all I really gotta say about it. Guess it wasn’t an interesting post after all. Fuck it. It’s my website so I’ll write all the mundane entries I want. It’s not like more than a handful of people read this. So yeah, you 6 people, go out and see it.

I’ll go on the record saying I love Tim Burton. Loved the eff out of Beetle Juice and Edward Scissorhands when I was younger and really liked Sweeney Todd and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But lately it’s been getting kind of old. We all know Tim Burton does odd extremely well but after more than a half-dozen movies it starts to get a little bland. And that about sums up my feelings of Alice in Wonderland.

To clear things up, this movie is about Alice’s second visit to Wonderland. I originally thought that it was a retelling of the classic story we all know so it was a pleasant surprise that it was something different. Overall though the story was just blah. It’s hard to pinpoint what was so bland about it but I just didn’t feel the excitement I do in other movies. I wasn’t really interested in what happened next and just wanted to see the final fight that they mention in the first fifteen minutes of the movie.

The one thing that is always pleasing in Tim Burton’s movies though is the design. Wonderland is.. well wonderful. Bright colors, fantastical creatures, and bizarrely-shaped characters work together to form the dream world. The Queen of Hearts was done especially well. It was quite a sight as Alice traveled across Wonderland.

One character that was a let down though was the Mad Hatter. In some places it felt like he was included just because he was played by Johnny Depp. Also didn’t quite like Depp’s interpretation of the character. I always envisioned him as some eccentric British fellow and not a bumbling fool. The way he talked was especially annoying.

Overall I was disappointed with the movie. The pristine visuals weren’t able to outweigh the lackluster climax and boring story. I still think it’s worth seeing though if only for Tim Burton’s vision of Wonderland. Either give it a rent when it comes out on DVD/Bluray or fire those torrents up. (more…)

Was lucky to go to a screening of this while up in New York thanks to my sister. In case you don’t know, yeah I’m a big Zooey fan so sue me. Ever since Elf, blah blah blah. Anyway wasn’t really sure what to expect from the movie when I first saw it. Heard a little here and there, but nothing major. All I know was as the trailer said, “This is not a love story. It’s a story about love.” So as I was sitting in the theater I was pretty much shaking with anticipation.

First thing that stood out in the movie was how it was told. It didn’t progress in a linear fashion. It pretty much skipped around to various big moments in Tom and Summer’s relationship. For example, it’d go from their first meeting to them arguing to Tom sulking to their first kiss, etc. While you’d think that it would be confusing, it actually isn’t thanks to clever storytelling. Second thing that I loved was how funny it actually was. Most romantic comedies these days rely on embarrassment humor. Toss the male lead into a weird situation and see how he reacts. Hilarity ensues! This one actually had some genuine humor which was awesome. My favorite part involved a Tom’s reaction from their first night together. I must say, best Harrison Ford cameo EVER. Thirdly was how relatable the movie was. All of the various stages Tom went through will probably remind you of one of your past experiences. It just feels so good to watch a movie about a relationship that isn’t perfect ’cause life just isn’t. Lastly the acting. The relationship between Tom and Summer feels so genuine. Most romantic comedies have an odd stiffness about them, but 500 didn’t. Zooey had the charm and Jason played the love struck guy wonderfully. I really hope to see this pair together in a future movie.

So yeah I pretty much adored this movie. I’d say it’s in my top 2 of romantic comedies; right up there with 10 Things I Hate About You (oddly enough also starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Definite must see for EVERYONE. Can’t wait till it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray so I can make it my new monthly watch.
(more…)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve no doubt heard of this movie. Produced by Peter Jackson, District 9 is touted as being a reinvention of the sci-fi genre and has been hyped everywhere, so I was very eager to see it. Saw it opening weekend with my sister and first thing I must say is wow. Everything about the movie blew me away. From the touching story to the edge of your seat action, it was a fabulous ride from beginning to end. And the CG is some of the best I’ve every seen. This is no doubt thanks to the wonderful team at Wingnut who also did the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. The aliens were so believable that it didn’t draw you out of the experience like some other movies /coughIamLegendcough. But the thing that hit me the most was that this movie was made for only $30 million which is an extremely tiny budget for a movie of this caliber. No doubt that hiring no name actors helped with that price, but still they delivered top notch performances. This is definitely a must see. Quite a diamond in an otherwise sleepy summer for movies. Well at least for me. And I hope that the major film studios learn from this. You don’t always need a several hundred million dollar budget to turn out a solid action movie.

It also makes me sad that the director Neill Blomkamp won’t be doing the Halo movie anymore. If this is any judge it would have been great. But hey, if he hadn’t dropped Halo, he never would have done District 9. Guess we can’t have everything.
(more…)