Monday, May 31, 2010

Purple Rain (1984) (R)


Purple Rain (1984) (R)
Directed by Albert Magnoli
Starring: Prince, Morris Day, Jill Jones, Apollonia Kotero

Daughter Says:

Purple Rain is about Prince and his struggle with his life. He has a screwed up family and a mixed up relationship with his girl friend. I can't really say anything other than that because there isn't much else to say.

I must say I'm in love with Prince more than I was before, because he was amazing on his purple motorcycle. I really think he could make a great super-hero driving around on his purple motorcycle with that guitar on his back and in his purple ruffle suit.

Other than that this movie just didn't add up. The acting in this movie was awful. The best actor in the film was Prince and he isn't even an actor. He was himself, end of story. The dialogue was awful too. Who thought up this stuff? It was a disaster.

But even though this movie has really bad acting and really bad script, don't let that stop you from watching Purple Rain. Prince has an amazing talent and a really bad review shouldn't stop you from watching it. I mean take Tommy or Across the Universe for instance. Tommy is a train wreck and Across the Universe makes you feel like you're on drugs. But my dad will tell you that Tommy is a brilliant movie and everyone should experience it, and I already told you what I thought about Across the Universe. So take a chance with Purple Rain. It's not like you'll have to watch it more than once in your life if you hate it.

Rating for Purple Rain: ***1/2.

Daddy Says:

I'll say this right up front, and get it out of the way: Purple Rain is a really terrible movie. And anytime it's on, I'm going to watch it. It's very much a guilty pleasure for me. Filled with some of the best music of Prince's career, Purple Rain would have been much better as simply a concert film (much as he did later for Sign O' the Times). Unfortunately, they've tried to graft a story onto it, and that's where the movie suffers.

The dialogue is atrocious. Other than a fairly funny riff on the classic "Who's on First?" routine, involving trying to come up with a code word, there really isn't anything interesting going on here. A predictable dysfunctional family at home, it's no surprise when Prince starts acting "just like his father" who's "never satisfied". Why do they scream at each other? Almost sounds like lines from a song...

The "actors" are essentially playing themselves, even going so far as using their own names. What's surprising is how bad most of them are at playing themselves. You'd think they'd know how to be themselves by now. Only Prince really comes across as having any real charisma.

Other than during the stage performances, the cinematography here is extremely repetitive. You could make a drinking game out it (take one drink every time you see the back tire of Prince's motorcycle speed away).

Ah, but then there is the music. Which is also part of the movie that bugs me. You see, Prince's character is told from the beginning that "nobody digs your music but yourself". By the end of the movie, everyone loves his music, yet he hasn't changed his music one bit from the beginning of the film. Maybe the rest of the world just takes a while to recognize talent. Not me, it's there every time he's onstage.

Rating for Purple Rain: ***3/4.

A Few Good Men (1992) (R)


A Few Good Men (1992) (R)
Directed by Rob Reiner
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon

Daughter Says:

A Few Good Men involves more than just men, but soldiers of all men. Tom Cruise stars as Lt. Daniel Kaffee who is a lawyer. He is put into a trial involving two men (James Marshall and Wolfgang Bodison) who supposedly murdered another soldier with poison. What they all don't know is Cruise has a woman on his side. Demi Moore stars as another lawyer named Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway. Together they try to solve this seemingly impossible case.

This murder mystery kept my attention all the way through and I was fascinated to find out how these two were going to figure the whole thing out. Not only was the story good but Jack Nicholson played an amazing villain. He creeped me out. (he would make an excellent Joker in a Batman movie). All together this movie was rather good.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes to watch trial/mystery films or tv shows. It's kind of a Law and Order movie. So if you like that kind of stuff give it a try.

Rating for A Few Good Men: ****.

Daddy Says:

Rob Reiner is one of my favorite directors. From The Princess Bride, to This Is Spinal Tap, to Misery, to When Harry Met Sally, Stand by Me, and The Sure Thing, he had an incredible run in the 1990s. A Few Good Men was also one of his best.

At times the film feels like a stage play being filmed, but for a courtroom drama like this it works. The cinematographer likes to cut off the tops of peoples head in a lot of shots, but it has the effect of focusing your attention on the actor's eyes. Again, in a different sort of film, it might have been a risky choice, but here it works.

It's also really great to watch Tom Cruise, before he became known for other things in his personal life, square off against heavyweight actor Jack Nicholson. Nicholson, of course, owns every scene he's in, but Cruise hangs in there with him. I would have liked to have seen more from the supporting cast, especially Demi Moore, but perhaps I'm asking for too much. Kiefer Sutherland was very good in his supporting role as a soldier who follows orders without question.

The script was also good, throwing in some great dialogue for the villain to chew on, while keeping us just a slight step behind Cruise in the courtroom so we are able to see where he's going with his defense. Not much to gripe about with this film. Pretty much, if you see Rob Reiner's name on the box and the date was somewhere in the 1990's, you can't go wrong.

Rating for A Few Good Men: ****1/4.

Speed (1994) (R)


Speed (1994) (R)
Directed by Jan de Bont
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels

Daughter Says:

Speed is about a vengeful terrorist, Howard Payne, (Dennis Hopper) who wants to get back at a cop named Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves)(Who is hot!) Payne ends up putting a bomb on a bus that can't go below 50 or it will explode. So now Traven is faced with the daunting task of stopping the bomb from exploding and killing about 15 people.

I'll start with the pluses of this movie. First of all, the casting for this movie was amazing. Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves are both fantastic actors, so putting them together would make a brilliant cast of talent. Another thing is Dennis Hopper makes out to be a believable bad guy. He had me getting the creepies. He is so evil and such a mastermind in Speed. But all these actors couldn't do that on their own. I must give Graham Yost praise for doing such a great job on the script and everything.

Now to the bad. This movie did feel a little redundant at times. For example, the bus comes to a gap in the road. What does Traven do? He speeds the bus up and "jumps" the 50 foot gap. Then later on he is on a subway and the track isn't finished once again. What does Traven do this time? Hmmm... I don't know. He speeds up the train so it jumps the track. Oh, what a surprise. Not. Another problem I had with Speed is some of the scenes were so fake. And if you haven't figured out by now, I hate things that I can tell are fake. They drive me up the wall. I won't tell you where the fake parts are, I'm sure you can figure that out by yourself.

But don't let my little errors stop you from watching this movie. I just suggest turning off your brain and enjoying a train wreck (literally).

Rating for Speed: ***1/2.

Daddy Says:

A fast-paced thriller, Speed lives up to its name. There are several little moments I enjoy in this film. Sandra Bullock's acting especially seems very natural. She really seems like an ordinary person caught up in extraordinary circumstances. Watch her when she's handcuffed to the metal pole on the subway car and needs to get off before it crashes; her acting doesn't feel like acting at that point, she really seems like someone who knows their about to die and like a rabbit caught in a trap is ready to gnaw her own limbs off if she could to get away with her life.

Another moment when her and Keanu have just gone for a thrilling ride at high-speed on a piece of metal plating from under the bus. Keanu asks her if she's alright, she covers her eyes and nods her head "no, I'm not alright". I don't know if that was in the script, but it felt like a completely real moment.

Keanu Reeves, while not being a great actor, does his best to live up to the character. Jeff Daniels does a good job as the "brains" of their team. And the late Dennis Hopper (rest in peace, sir) is wonderful as the mad bomber.

The editing, while keeping up the fast pace, let me down at several points in the film. I really dislike cutting away from the action to show me something completely unrelated because it gives away what's going to happen next. For instance, we cut away from the speeding bus going the wrong way on a busy city street, to show us two women saying goodbye to each other, one of them wheeling a baby carriage. They've now told us that the baby carriage is going to be involved very soon, and sure enough here comes the speeding bus to plow right into it. Luckily, it is only full of aluminum cans. Now imagine how much more shocking and powerful the scene would have been if we hadn't seen the baby carriage until right before the bus hit it. We would have been just as shocked and scared for the "baby" as Sandra Bullock was. But, instead, we were expecting it to be hit and neither shocked or surprised when it happened.

Yes, the story is unrealistic at times, but the movie carries you along with its literal "speed", so there are only a handful of times you'll notice it. I've always enjoyed Speed, and I'm quite willing to overlook its flaws in favor of some great action scenes, a handful of suspense, some good laughs and some surprisingly good acting.

Rating for Speed: ****1/2.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Gone With the Wind (1939) (Not Rated)


Gone With the Wind (1939) (Not Rated)
Directed by Victor Fleming
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel

Daddy Says:

This is my wife's all-time favorite movie, and the reason we're both watching it with her today. But fear not, I shall remain an unbiased reviewer (not counting my own biases, of course) and I will state my case for or against this movie without fear of reprisal from my spouse. Luckily for me, I love this movie too.

For the few of you who are unfamiliar with it, Gone With the Wind takes place in the South, right before the start of the Civil War. Scarlet O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) is the epitome of the Southern Belle with her pick of any man in the county. Unfortunately, the one she wants is Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) who is set to announce his engagement to his cousin (ewww) Melanie (Olivia de Havilland). At the barbecue at the Wilkes plantation, where Scarlett intends to find a way to get Ashley to marry her instead, she meets the "man who is no gentleman", the dashing Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). And while Rhett falls for Scarlett immediately, it takes her much longer (and two husbands later) to realize that Rhett is the man for her. And unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you already know that by the time she realizes her feelings, it's too late. Frankly, my dear, he doesn't give a damn anymore.

There are so many great things about this movie, it's hard to list them all. It's an immense story told against a huge backdrop of a country tearing itself apart. Yet, director Victor Fleming manages to keep the story personal, so that we always have a reason to care about the people involved in it. The acting is first-rate. A lengthy casting process found the perfect actress to play Scarlett, and Clark Gable was born to play the roguish Rhett Butler.

The musical score is wonderful, the cinematography is wonderful; you'd think I'd be heading off to another five-star rating for this wouldn't you?

Almost, but not quite. I've seen this movie at least six times now and it's always seemed rushed in the last third of it. The first part has a very measured pace to it; events are allowed to unfold at their own pace. Whereas, after Scarlett and Rhett marry and have their little girl Bonnie Blue the movie seems to rocket through one event after another. Compare the pace of the scene where the men have gone off to clear out the shanty town where Scarlett was attacked. There is a deliberate pace and tension is allowed to build before it gets released. But in the last third of the movie, they have a baby, she grows up a bit, rides a horse, the grownups fight, Rhett says he's taking Bonnie to London. Next, they're in London, Bonnie has a nightmare, she wants to go home, then they're home. It all goes by so fast that we aren't allowed to understand what each event means in their lives. Their motivations and feelings get lost in the race to get to the end of the story. I know it's based on a really big book, and the film is already around three-and-a-half hours long, but the movie is so good that I really wouldn't have minded it being a little longer, just to avoid feeling rushed.

But don't let this one little quibble stop you from experiencing one of the cinema's all-time great films.

Rating for Gone With the Wind: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

Gone With the Wind was one of the few classic movies that I was very uncertain of. I might be a fan of romantic/comedies, but if there isn't comedy connected to the story I'm not interested. I don't read romance novels for that exact same reason. I'm just not that type.

But Gone With the Wind is a horse of a different color. It's one of the few serious romance stories I will sit through. It might be three hours long, but every minute of this movie was amazing. The scenery is breath-taking. I feel in love with the coloring of the backgrounds. I couldn't believe how they got the sky so beautiful. I don't know if I can find a beautiful sky like that without some computer touching up on it. I was so surprised to like the coloring of this movie (considering how old Gone With the Wind is).

Another thing that surprised me was the acting. I was so unaware that there was such great actors in this movie. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable did an amazing job bringing these characters to life. They put their heart and soul into these creations and made me root for all of the people to survive and Scarlet to get her life back. Plus Leigh and Gable looked so gorgeous together.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone. They should at least watch this movie once in their lifetime. I think they'll be surprised to find they like this film. You don't have to love romantic things to enjoy Gone With the Wind; so give it a try.

Rating for Gone With the Wind: ****1/2.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

500 Days of Summer (2009) (PG-13)


500 Days of Summer (2009) (PG-13)
Directed by Marc Webb
Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Clark Gregg, Minka Kelly

Daughter Says:

500 Days of Summer is exactly what the previews say it is. This movie is not about a love story. It's about a boy and a girl. 500 Days of Summer is about a man named Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who falls in love with a girl named Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). But Summer is not looking for anything serious. If anything she hardly believes in love at all. Surprisingly Tom does believe in love and destiny. He happens to find this beautiful girl who likes the same strange things he does except that one thing; she doesn't find this to be destiny. Sadly they break up and Tom just can't get over Summer. (Who ever wants summer to end?) That's when Tom tries to win her back.

I won't give the whole movie away, but I really loved it. This movie was told out of sequence which made this movie just that much more interesting. I have always wondered what would the movie be like if you were to watch it in order, but I've decided it would not be as good as it is now. I really wouldn't have changed this movie at all. Loved everything about it. (Now I've got "She's Got You High" stuck in my head.)

That's another thing. I love the movie, music, and other references in 500 Days of Summer. At one point Tom and Summer are sitting at a pancake place. They have been going through a rough patch in their relationship, so Summer declares that their relationship had been Sid and Nancy for a while. Tom disagrees by exclaiming that Sid stabbed Nancy five times with a butcher knife, and he hardly thinks he has been anything like Sid. That's when Summer denies Tom of being Sid but of her being Sid. Tom automatically answers, "So I'm Nancy."

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes odd movies. You don't have to be a romantic/comedy lover to enjoy this film. In fact, I highly suggest you don't watch 500 Days of Summer with a romantic/comedy in mind. Give this movie a try. You'll either hate (like my mom) or you'll love it (like me).

Rating for 500 Days of Summer: *****.

Daddy Says:

Anyone who knows me knows that romantic comedies just aren't my cup of tea. It takes something really special for me to like a film in this genre. Guess I'll have to add 500 Days of Summer to this very short list.

I loved that the story is told non-sequentially. I've actually seen someone write out the plot in sequence and the character of Summer comes off really poorly this way. By showing the scenes out of order, we get to see her through Tom's eyes, with her shortcomings and flaws not being obvious. It's only later, if we think about it at all, that we realize that she was really a very selfish person. The non-linear script, and because she's played by the always-charming Zooey Deschanel, keep her bad behavior disguised from us.

The film reminds me of a really good Woody Allen movie, the kind he used to turn out many years ago, but not as self-deprecating. It feels honest, even when the characters are being less than honest with themselves. It gives meaning to the phrase "it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all". And if your kids don't already know about it (mine did), it will teach them a wonderful game they can play in public to cause you no end of embarrassment. You'll know the scene I'm talking about when you see it.

Rating for 500 Days of Summer: ****1/4.

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2008) (PG-13)


In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2008) (PG-13)
Directed by Uwe Boll
Starring: Jason Statham, Leelee Sobieski, Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds

Daughter Says:

In the Name of the King is about a man named Farmer (Jason Statham) who is attacked by some kind of monster things that steal his wife and murder his only son. Now he is set out to get revenge on his son's death, then steal his wife back.

Your basic story, right? Well the directer didn't do a good job at following this basic story. This movie was a disaster in the making. There were scenes that were just plain stupid. Example: One point Statham has his hands tied behind his back and John Rhys-Davies makes him drink something. Statham finding it disgusting pushed it away with his hand. How in the world does that work?

Another problem was the fact that at some points it would be raining cats and dogs while right next door it was sunny with no clouds in the sky. Then if you turn around it's suddenly midnight. What in the world?

Not only did Statham grow a third arm during the making of this movie; he didn't learn not to sign up for really bad movies. The script was terrible. In the Name of the King. I never thought I could find an awful action movie as this one.

If I had to say something good about this movie it would have to be that there were some good looking actors. I must admit Jason Statham is hot! I also found some new actors (to me) named
Brian J. White and Darren Shahlavi. They are very attractive. I hope to see them in other movies.

Rating for In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale: *.

PS: The title is outrageously long. Who needs a title that long?

Daddy Says:

Mom always told me that if I couldn't say something nice, I shouldn't say anything at all. Going to be a challenge for this film.

Here goes. Jason Statham tries very hard to remain stoic and intense throughout this mess, essentially playing the same character he plays in all of his films. But whereas, those films had better plots and better action, this film is a complete waste of time. The dialogue scripted for these mostly fine actors is just laughable. The movie would feel right at home on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. And director Uwe Boll continues his streak of never making a good movie. It's not often you see a director with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Some of the casting choices are mind-boggling as well. Ray Liotta, who was wonderful in GoodFellas, is a staggeringly bad choice for a villain here. And whoever thought that Burt Reynolds would be a good choice as the ruler of the kingdom here needs to have their casting license revoked.

Sorry, mom. I just couldn't do it. This may have been the worst movie I've ever seen. I'm holding off giving this awful film "zero stars" on the chance that there could be a worse film out there somewhere. I really hope I never sit through it.

Rating for In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale: 1/4 of a star.

True Romance (1993) (R)


True Romance (1993) (R)
Directed by Tony Scott
Starring: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer

Daddy Says:

You may have noticed I like Quentin Tarantino movies. I like the way he directs, but I especially like the way he writes. His dialogue has a natural feel to it, but at the same time it's better than what people would normally say. It's stylized, but not to the point where it feels stylized. True Romance was the script he sold in order to finance his first movie as a director (the wonderful Reservoir Dogs).

True Romance is the story of boy meets girl, a call-girl in this case named Alabama (Patricia Arquette). The boy she falls in love with is Clarence (Christian Slater). They watch a kung-fu triple feature, they talk over pie, they make love. She tells him that she loves him, he believes her and he loves her too. They get married. The only thing nagging at him is her former pimp (Gary Oldman in a scene-stealing role). Clarence goes to talk to him, things get out of control and he ends up killing the pimp and, unknown to him, taking a suitcase full of drugs with him. And that's just the start of a tale that involves gangsters who want their drugs back, a trail of bodies, and the police who want to bust everybody involved.

This movie has some incredible scenes for the actors. As I mentioned, Gary Oldman has a great part as the pimp who thinks he's black. Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper have a great scene together as well. Walken is the mob enforcer, Hopper is Clarence's father. When Christopher Walken refers to himself as the Antichrist it's hard not to believe him. And when Dennis Hopper knows he's going to be tortured into giving up his son's location, he comes up with a very clever way to keep that from happening.

I had a great time watching this film. Director Tony Scott does justice to the material. It's a loud, brutal, bloody, funny, intense ride, and I only wish I was as good a writer as Quentin Tarantino.

Rating for True Romance: ****1/2.

Daughter Says:

I just want to start out by saying 'I love Quentin Tarantino movies'. True Romance might not have been directed by Tarantino, but it was written by him and you can tell it was. It has many vulgar and bloody scenes, but that is what was so great about this movie. I enjoyed True Romance immensely with its amazing script and wonderful acting.

There were so many big time names in this movie. Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, and that's just the beginning. I really enjoyed every part of this movie. I don't think I could have found anything too wrong with it.

If I had to find something wrong with it I would probably said that it should have been directed by Tarantino and there could have been a little less cussing. It wouldn't have been a Tarantino script if there wasn't at least ten curse words involved, plus who wants to change an already great movie?

Rating for True Romance: ****.

The French Connection (1971) (R)


The French Connection (1971) (R)
Directed by William Friedkin
Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco

Daddy Says:

1971 was a really good year for cop movies. It was the year Dirty Harry came out, as well as this great film. The French Connection starts off with a bang. The credits and the music come blaring out at you, just to get your attention. Then we're off to France where we see someone tailing someone else, then he gets murdered in a very graphic scene.

Then we're off to Brooklyn, where we're introduced to detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman in a career defining role) and his partner Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider). They're undercover outside a bar waiting for a drug deal to go down: Cloudy pretending to sell hot dogs from a stand, Popeye entertaining the children on the street corner dressed as Santa Claus. This movie is based on an actual police case (the detectives it is based on actually appear in the film as the actor's superior officers), and this was an actual way for the police to catch drug dealers in the act.

We learn many of the ways detectives work. We see the methods they use to follow cars, we see how to properly tail someone who's walking down the street. The film has an almost documentary quality to it. We're right there with the detectives, seeing what they see. But we are also privy to the workings of the criminals: the people they use to cover their crimes, the methods they use to transport their stolen goods.

And then there's the chase scene. If you know anything about this movie without having seen it, you know there's a famous chase scene where Popeye borrows a citizen's car in order to chase after a suspect who has escaped on an elevated train. Popeye drives fast and nearly out-of-control beneath the elevated train tracks, keeping one eye on the road and the other on the train. It doesn't always work out well. It's an amazing feat of editing and cinematography, and some of it was unplanned (the car that slams into Popeye's car was not a stunt driver). If you watch this movie for the chase scene alone, you won't be disappointed.

But there are so many other good parts. The scene where Popeye shakes down a bar filled with African-American drug dealers, for instance, just so he can get some information from his informant who is undercover with them. This same scene was done in reverse in Eddie Murphy's first movie 48 Hrs.

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I think it's a classic film from one of history's best decades for movies, and I can't wait to see what my daughter has to say about it below.

Rating for The French Connection: *****.

Daughter Says:

The French Connection was an interesting movie. It wasn't your typical action movie. I won't tell why but it did surprise me in the end. I was on the edge of my seat (so to speak) most of the time.

There were some things that I found wrong with the movie, but over all it was rather good. I found that the movie was just a little out of date for some reason. Technology has taken over so much of the world that when I see an older movie, I find that it's just not as good. There aren't any special effects, so its not good (supposedly), but I don't think that way. Being in art at the moment and wanting to major in it during high school, I just can't tolerate bad coloring; and this movie being old had faded coloring.

Other than that the movie was overall really good (like I said above). I found the script and the actors worked well together. I also was connected to the main character and wanted the good guy to catch the bad guy. (But who doesn't want that?).

Rating for The French Connection: ***1/2.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Hunt for Red October (1990) (PG)


The Hunt for Red October (1990) (PG)
Directed by John McTiernan
Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones

Daddy Says:

From the director of such action movies as Die Hard and Predator, comes a more cerebral action/adventure film. The Hunt for Red October tells the story of Captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery), a dissatisfied Russian commander who navigates his submarine towards America in an attempt to defect. He is chased by the entire Russian fleet, trying to stop him from defecting, and, after telling the Americans that the Captain is going to launch the subs weapons at them, by them as well. Seems everyone thinks they need to take him out, everyone except Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) who is sure he knows whats really going on with the Russian Captain and his brand new sub. And what a sub it is: as big as an aircraft carrier, with a new type of propulsion system that allows it to run silently, undetectable to sonar.

I was expecting the same type of submarine adventures I've been watching for years. In my mind, you couldn't have a good submarine movie without a scene where the sub sinks slowly to the bottom while the creaks and groans of the hull threaten to implode the ship at any time. I'm glad to say that The Hunt for Red October surprised me, by not having that scene, and by replacing it with scenes which were just as suspenseful, yet I'd never seen them done before in an underwater movie.

The acting was top notch, the script had me guessing as to where it was heading next, the direction of the film was first rate. I guess if I had to say something negative, it's that at two hours and fifteen minutes it felt just a tad bit too long. The problem with the Americans not speaking Russian, and vice versa, was also pretty much overlooked during the big climax near the end, but I can overlook these minor complaints. This was very well done.

Rating for The Hunt for Red October: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

The Hunt for Red October took me to a place I never thought it would take me. I had pictured this movie to be just another submarine movie which is usually claustrophobic and just not my cup of tea. But this one was different. It took me into the minds of both sides of the war that helped me associate with all of the characters.

Speaking of characters, I really liked the acting in Red October. I could understand what every character wanted and what they were thinking, and they still left some things a mystery. I really liked how the movie lead you on to believe a character to be something and then showed you that they really were opposite. It really teaches you to not judge a book by the cover.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this movie was the scenery. Yes most of it was underwater, but the parts that weren't were really breathtaking. For instance, at one point they send the sub. up out of the water really fast and it makes a huge wave. It really reminded me of a whale jumping out of the ocean. Even the parts under the water were amazing. The lighting was great. I loved how the light hit the actors just right to give them an eeriness to the scene.

I highly suggest this movie to anyone who likes mystery/adventure movies. They should also like dialogue, because it doesn't have a lot of action; mostly suspense. I love the suspense.

Rating for The Hunt for Red October: ****.

The Tooth Fairy (2010) (PG)


The Tooth Fairy (2010) (PG)
Directed by Michael Lembeck
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Stephen Merchant, Julie Andrews

Daughter Says:

The Tooth Fairy is about a great hockey player named Derek Thompson (Dwayne Johnson) who can't be nice to anyone. He likes to crush little kids dreams and future (well a little unrealistic) goals. One night while Derek was babysitting his girlfriend's kids the daughter loses a tooth. Hidden under a pillow is a dollar for the tooth. When Derek loses all his money in a poker game he sneaks up to the little girl's room and steals the dollar.

When the girl wakes up, she finds the tooth and the money missing. The mother looks all over for it, while Derek tries to distract the child. He tries to pull the "tooth fairy being fake" lecture when the mother pulls a dollar out of her purse with a smooth cover up and Derek gets a chewing out for what he was about to say. (Shame on him, the tooth fairy is totally real).

Now Derek must answer to the tooth fairies, and boy are they mad. He is sentenced to a week of fairy training where he will learn that tooth fairies go through a big deal of trouble to get little boy's and girl's teeth.

This movie was a cute movie, perfect for little children. I loved Dwayne Johnson in it, like I love him in most of his movies. He is so adorable to me. And he looks good in a tutu. There were many funny and silly moments that caught me giggling occasionally. I highly suggest this movie to families who want to spend time with their busy children.

Rating for The Tooth Fairy: ***1/2.

Daddy Says:

Dwayne Johnson (known to me for many years as The Rock) is one of the most charismatic actors working today. His good looks and, for this part, great teeth combine to give him a presence which really shines through no matter what part he's playing. Unfortunately for him, he really should consider getting a better agent, one who can turn down the parts he shouldn't be doing. Like this one.

I mentioned in my review for Meet the Robinsons that a movie with seven writers can't be a good sign. The Tooth Fairy only has five, but still suffers greatly. None of the writers seemingly have any first hand, or even second hand, knowledge of what it's like to be an unmarried mother of two, raising children while still trying to find a boyfriend with potential to be future-husband material. I say this because Ashley Judd, who plays just such a part in the film, comes off looking like a total schizo. One minute she's furious with her boyfriend for shattering the dreams of her teenage son, then later that same night she's forgiven him and is ready to accept his impromptu marriage proposal at her son's talent show, all because the thoughtless jerk uses the very phrase she told him he doesn't know the meaning of: "What if...".

Even the son is required to change his mind without good reason. He starts off the film realistically not liking his mom's new boyfriend, after all he's seen this all before with previous boyfriends, but then within a day starts bonding with him. I'd also like to forget that his mom left her boyfriend to babysit the kids while she goes out with a girl friend, and somehow it's okay for him to invite his buddies over for a poker game. Then there's the confusion about where her boyfriend lives. He has his own place, but other times he seems to have a room of his own at her place.

None of this makes any sense. I wouldn't have minded as much if they hadn't treated the family life as being realistic. I would have been fine with a family-oriented fantasy film about tooth fairies. I would have been fine just finding out what it is that they do with all those teeth they collect. I never got my answer. Instead I got a mess of a movie with a very charming lead actor who really needs to just say "no" to the next bad script that gets put in front of him, and wait until something better comes along. What if, indeed.

Rating for The Tooth Fairy: 3/4 of a star.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Meet the Robinsons (2007) (G)


Meet the Robinsons (2007) (G)
Directed by Stephen J. Anderson
Voices: Angela Bassett, Adam West, Tom Selleck, Harland Williams

Daughter Says:

Meet the Robinsons, a quirky family full of wisdom and funny jokes, but that's not the real story here. The real story is about a young kid named Lewis who wants to be an inventor. He starts out as an orphan who wishes for someone who would except him for who he is. But who is there to stop all of Lewis' dreams from coming true, none other than "the bowler hat guy". (Gee what a lame villain name. Maybe these guys needed another writer). Lewis is sent to the future to stop "the bowler hat guy" (Oh so taunting...not) from ruining everyone's future.

I won't tell you too much because I can't remember it all. I had the most trouble with remembering all the character's names. To write this review I had to refer to a source to remember just the main character's name, little less the secondary characters' names. Other than there being too many characters the overall story wasn't too horrible. I thought the story was really sweet. Lewis got what he wanted and so did "the bowler hat guy". (Wow it sounds lame down in this paragraph too, hmm maybe they should have rethought that).

I thought this movie was a wonderful kids movie. I highly suggest it for younger children around the ages of 5 to 9. (My brother really enjoyed it).

Rating for Meet the Robinsons: ***.


Daddy Says:

The first feature length animated film from the newly-formed Walt Disney Animation Studios (after Pixar left), Meet the Robinsons was in production for four years. I'd like to say that it's worth the wait, but the best I can offer is it's not too bad. A movie that lists seven writers for the script is one that you know wasn't a smooth ride from the start.

It probably would have made the movie too long to go into more of the characters that populate the quirky Robinson family, and I can see why there needed to be a lot of them, but I do wish that at least some attempt had been made to explain how they all got to be that way. When we meet the Vanderhof family in You Can't Take It With You, we accept their quirks because it is part of their family creed to support everyone's talent, no matter what that talent may be. The family motto of the Robinson's is "Keep Moving Forward", which still doesn't explain why one of them delivers pizzas, but thinks he's a superhero. As the villain of the film often says, I don't think they really thought this one all the way through.

I've seen a lot of time travel movies and TV shows, and I think I've got a pretty good idea about how it's supposed to work, at least as far as messing with the future goes. But I'm pretty sure that if you know how the future's supposed to be, even going so far as to have a great bonding moment with yourself as an adult, that things aren't going to turn out just the way you plan.

Oh, well. Put your brain in neutral and enjoy the show. It's well-animated, well-voiced by the actors, and is probably worth a rental. Just could have used a few more writers, I guess. Or one really good one.

Rating for Meet the Robinsons: ***3/4.

The Third Man (1949) (Not Rated)


The Third Man (1949) (Not Rated)
Directed by Carol Reed
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard

Daddy Says:

Yes, we don't just watch action movies and romantic comedies at our house. I try to get my family to watch one of the cinematic classics once in a while.

The Third Man begins with Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), an unemployed pulp-novelist, arriving in post-WWII Vienna at the request of his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Upon his arrival he finds everything is wrong when he's told that Harry was struck down by a car and killed, and is being buried this very moment. Holly goes to the cemetery to confirm and gets questioned by a British inspector (Trevor Howard), and sees a mysterious and beautiful girl (Alida Valli) whom he will discover was Harry's lover.

Holly begins to suspect that Harry wasn't killed in an accident, so much as he was murdered and like one of his pulp fiction characters begins to investigate on his own. He is told originally that two men carried Harry's body out of the road, but someone else says that there were not two, but three men who carried it. Who was this mysterious third man? And are the police correct when they say it's better off for Harry Lime to be dead, since they claim he was a black marketeer who sold watered-down penicillin to hospitals and caused hundreds of children to die.

I listed Orson Welles as the lead in The Third Man, but he's really only in the movie for a short time. But even when he's not on-screen, every other character talks about Harry Lime so much it feels like the entire movie is all about him. I'm sure if you've heard of this movie before you've heard about his great "cuckoo clock" speech, which I'm told he wrote himself. It's a wonderful speech, but the entire scene that precedes it is just as good. Watch his face as he smiles to his friend's face, but grows deadly serious when Holly turns away.

Other things worth mentioning are the cinematography and the editing. Many of the scenes are shot with the camera tilted slightly one way or the other. It's become quite common to use this type of camera work to show disorientation (although it's been replaced these days with mostly shaky handheld camera work), but this is one of the first films to use it really well. As for the editing, watch the scene where Holly agrees to be the inspector's "decoy duck", how every shot alternates between an empty street and someone watching out for Harry Lime to appear. The suspense builds and builds until a large shadow is cast upon the side of a building from around the corner. As the person appears, we see it's just a balloon salesman and the music changes to show the tension relieved. It's really wonderful work.

As for the music, I'm sure my daughter will give you her opinion of it. I thought the zither score worked well. There's no other movie out there that sounds like this one. And any time I hear a zither being played, I immediately associate it with this classic film. Ladies and gentlemen: my first five-star rating.

Rating for The Third Man. *****.

Daughter Says:

The Third Man is definitely an old movie. It's in black and white, which happens to be my least favorite way to watch a movie other than in another language. At least I didn't have to read the movie. Other than being black and white, the basis of the film was rather good. I liked the shadows of the scenery. It gave the place an eeriness to it. Which makes sense because the place has been through some rough times. The way the movie was shot was really breathtaking. I like the different angles it gave me to each scene. Okay, maybe black and white isn't such a bad idea.

Now to the bad parts. The music drove me up the wall. What in the world were they thinking creating a instrument like zither. Wait a minute the word zither is stupid to begin with. People are so strange. Anyway, that annoyed me beyond belief. Other than that annoying thing in the background there was the acting. Well I wouldn't blame the actors so much as to say it just didn't flow all that well. The way the words were it just was kind of awkward to me. Maybe it's just me.

I'll give The Third Man this much, I liked the ending. The tunnel scene was really cool, and the final ending was very funny (in it's own way). But to refer to it as a classic, well I don't know about that. The Wizard of Oz is classic, but this for me just doesn't compare.

I'll let you make the real decision, but for now here is my rating for this movie.

Rating for The Third Man: ***.

Infernal Affairs (2003) (R)


Infernal Affairs (2003) (R)
Directed by Wai Keung Lau & Alan Mak
Starring: Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang

Daddy Says:

Two years ago, the Academy Award for Best Picture was finally awarded to one of the greatest directors working today: Martin Scorsese. After being passed over year after year, turning out classics like Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, GoodFellas and Raging Bull, the Academy finally gave him his due for directing The Departed. Admittedly, it's a great film. But what you may be unaware of is that it's a remake of a Hong Kong action thriller called Infernal Affairs.

If you've already seen The Departed, the story will be familiar. The crime boss sends several of his young criminals to enlist in the police academy. If they succeed, they will be cops with badges, but they will actually be undercover moles for the crime syndicate. As one of them does exceedingly well and rises through the top ranks, his friend he meets in the academy screws up and gets banished from the force. After being disgraced, he falls in with the criminals and rises through their ranks to become the trusted right-hand man of the crime boss. Unknown to the crime boss, however, is that his trusted man is still working for the police as an undercover operative. So both sides now have undercover operatives working for the other side. It's a race for their lives as each side tries to uncover who is working for whom.

The acting in Infernal Affairs is superb. I especially enjoyed Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who was in Hero which we reviewed a couple of months back. The story is very well told, even more concise than it was in The Departed, which took it about thirty minutes longer to tell. And even knowing how the remake ended, I was still unsure if this film would end the same way or was going to go a different route. If you enjoyed the Scorsese film, definitely give this one a view. If you haven't seen either, I'd start with this one. It probably won't be at your local video store, but you can get it from both Blockbuster.com and Netflix. Highly recommended.

Rating for Infernal Affairs: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

The last Scorsese film I saw was Taxi Driver and I loved that movie. I didn't get to see The Departed but I hear it was a semi-good movie. I wouldn't know, but I really liked Infernal Affairs. So if it is anything like this movie, I'll love it.

Infernal Affairs was full of action and on the edge of your seat suspense. I really didn't know where this movie was going, and it took me by surprise quite a few times. A lot of the scenes were amazingly directed, because it kept my attention throughout.

There were subtitles and that usually bothers me, but I was able to read the whole thing. I didn't really need to read the subtitles, the acting was so good. I understood everything that was going on. I sometimes get confused with foreign films (I'm glaring at you, The Son), but not this one.

I highly recommend this movie before or after you watch The Departed. You don't really need to watch The Departed, actually, just watch Infernal Affairs.

Rating for Infernal Affairs: ****.

Across the Universe (2007) (PG-13)


Across the Universe (2007) (PG-13)
Directed by Julie Taymor
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs

Daughter Says:

Who doesn't love at least one Beatles song. I know I don't. Now here's a movie that takes you on ride, where you can enjoy some Beatles music. This movie was about a British boy named Jude (Jim Sturgess) who goes to America to find his father. While there he runs into a strange kid named Max (Joe Anderson) who has a pretty sister. Her name would be none other than Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). They end up falling in love and now Jude doesn't want to leave the country.

I have no idea how the Beatles are involved in this movie, but I loved it. They used tons of my favorite songs in this movie. The sad thing was that it wasn't sung by the Beatles. I hate remade songs if they shouldn't be remade.

Other than that I really enjoyed this movie. It was a very trippy movie. I haven't ever experienced drugs before, but that movie was odd. Everyone compared it to getting high. I would have to say it was a one of a kind movie and there isn't another one out there like it.

Rating for Across the Universe: ****. PS I've only seen one other movie that portrayed songs from a band (Tommy based off of Who songs) and I hated it. So plus on Across the Universe.

Daddy Says:

Why the Beatles?

My biggest complaint with this movie is the use of the Beatles music, which is, of course, it's strongest selling point. It's titled after one of their songs, the characters are all named after characters in their songs (i.e. (Hey) Jude, Lucy (in the Sky with Diamonds), Sexy Sadie, (Dear) Prudence, Max(well's Silver Hammer?)), but the music itself never seems to fit with the story.

At least the last movie that tried to do this (the awful Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) at least tried to take the songs and weave a story out of the music itself. But with Across the Universe, there seems to be no point to using the Beatles' songs at all. Yes, the music is undeniably great. So why try to ruin it by putting it in a movie this cliched, with this many uninteresting characters?

I think the film was trying to say something about the Vietnam War and the peace protests against it, and how they could spiral out of control into the very violence they were protesting against, but honestly I think I just made more of a statement about those problems than this movie managed to do in it's entire two hours and thirteen minutes of running time.

It is possible to make a great film filled with music by the Beatles. I know because I've seen it. It's called A Hard Day's Night. You should really check it out. And avoid this one.

Rating for Across the Universe: **3/4 (and that's almost entirely for the soundtrack alone).

Saturday, May 1, 2010

P.S. I Love You (2007) (PG-13)


P.S. I Love You (2007) (PG-13)
Directed by Richard LaGravenese
Starring: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Gina Gershon, Lisa Kudrow

Daughter Says:

P.S. I Love You is based off the novel by Cecelia Ahern. I've never read it and probably won't. I love romance comedies but not as books, for some odd reason. But that's beside the point. It is about this woman (Hilary Swank) and this man (Gerard Butler) who have fallen in love and are married. There's just a few problems. One they had been fighting like an old married couple. (She doesn't want kids right now. He wants kids.) That kind of stuff. Second problem is he dies. Now you would think that was the end of the movie, but no it is not. On her thirtieth birthday she gets a recorded message from her dead husband. He explains to her that she is going to receive letters from him over a while that tells her something to do every day. She does these things and then... I won't give too much away.

I would have liked this movie, but there was something so wrong with it. For one thing, I didn't like the ending. I won't tell you how it ends but it's not all that good. She doesn't end up with who I wanted her to. I also felt like she was whiny and I don't like whiny people. "Feel sorry for me. Pamper me." is all I could hear throughout the movie. I don't know why I felt that way about this movie, I just did.

I just hope one day, I'll find a great movie with Gerard Butler in it. Maybe someday. Oh well until then I'll have to watch these okay movies.

Rating for P.S. I Love You: ***.

Daddy Says:

I could tell in the first ten minutes I wasn't going to like this movie, right after Gerard Butler promises his true love, Hilary Swank, that "he's not going anywhere" (foreshadow much?). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that his funeral is the very next scene.

The script is very poorly written. The dialogue sounds very stiff and unnatural, and while I give credit to the actors for trying to say it with some conviction, it rarely works. The script also tries too hard to push the audience's emotional buttons, giving the most obvious cues to "cry here", "laugh here", etc. Not one moment of this movie felt natural. Even in the big emotional scene where Swank's character runs to her mom and starts spouting off every single feeling she's been going through with perfect crystal clarity. It's like the writer couldn't figure out how to show all of that internal turmoil, so the character's just going to have to spit it all out at once.

As for the actors, I like Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank, just in other movies, not here. Hilary Swank, especially, is miscast here. I'm not sure what she was thinking by playing this role. I know she can do better parts than this thinly-written character, so I'm not sure what attracted her to this role. Gina Gershon and Lisa Kudrow tag along to help out with her dead husband's wacky scavenger hunt, but they both look like they'd rather be anywhere but in this movie.

For a so-called romantic comedy, this movie is really fairly downbeat. But I guess it works for some people. My wife had a fairly decent cry over it. It just didn't move me in the same way.

Rating for P.S. I Love You: *1/4.

Face/Off (1997) (R)


Face/Off (1997) (R)
Directed by John Woo
Starring: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola

Daughter Says:

Face/Off has the story inside the title. The title is a double meaning in itself. Face off, meaning two people versus each other. Second meaning is much different from the first. Face off, meaning you take the person's face off, literally. Maybe I should tell you how I got to the second meaning.

Face/Off tells the story of a cop (John Travolta) verses a hardened criminal (Nicolas Cage). John Travolta starts out playing a cop named Sean Archer. Nicolas Cage plays Castor Troy who is out to get Sean Archer. In Troy's attempt to murder Archer he accidentally kills Archer's baby boy. Now destined to get his revenge Archer can think of nothing more than to put Troy behind bars.

Finally caught in a crazy air chase, Troy is finally put to justice (so we think). As far as Archer was concerned his conscience was clear, for the most part. Until he finds out that Troy had planted a bomb in a building somewhere, but the police force has no idea where. Now Archer has to decide between risking his life and his family's going under cover as Castor Troy himself, or never finding the justice he needs to free this guilt from him.

He decides to live life on the dangerous side. They take Nicolas Cage's face and put it on John Travolta's. So the roles are officially switched. John Travolta is now the bad guy (like it should be) and Nicolas Cage is the good guy. Key the double meaning "face off".

I won't give too much away, but I really liked this movie. I've never seen a John Woo movie, but this one gave me a good first impression. It was fun and action packed. I loved many of the chase scenes and the meaning behind many parts.

I must tell you my favorite part! At one point John Travolta (Bad) finds where Nicolas Cage (good) is hiding. Travolta and the cop squad raid the place and are all shooting things up and cool stuff like that. Cage is running away and Travolta is following. (This is the cool part) They get into this circular room with mirrors in the middle all around. Cage is in the middle and Travolta is on the outside. At one point they are both facing the same mirror across from each other. They point their guns at their reflections. They're talking to each other, but looking at their own reflections. I found that really cool, because they look like each other's enemy. I just found that really awesome.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves an action packed and double meaning kind of stuff you should really watch this movie

Rating for Face/Off: ****.

Daddy Says:

I've been a fan of John Woo movies for many years. The first movie I saw directed by him was The Killer, one of his great Hong Kong action movies I still admire greatly to this day. As a director, John Woo has several trademarks that he likes to put in his movies: doves flying, people leaping in slow motion usually firing two pistols simultaneously, stuff blowing up in slow motion in pretty kinetic patterns, and of course, his most iconic image, two people holding guns on each other at such close range that their arms are crossed over each others. Many of these images have been copied by other filmmakers, but only John Woo uses them to such great effect.

I admire the acting of both Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in this film. Not only do they have to play their own roles, but both are required to play the other person's part as well. It's fascinating watching them play their nemesis, literally wearing his face as a mask, while still convincing us that underneath they are still their original selves. It is an incredibly difficult acting challenge and they both pull it off wonderfully.

Yes, you can quibble about the science aspect of the story, how it shouldn't be possible for two people to switch faces so easily, but I recommend setting that logical thinking aside and just enjoy a great story, along with some really great stunt work, in what in my opinion is John Woo's best American-made movie.

Rating for Face/Off: ****3/4.