Here it is, for the 5% of the people with internet who haven't seen the trailer yet.
Oh my God, May 4th is so far away...
6.28.2006
6.26.2006
6.23.2006
Good thing I do research, because I was essentially going to make this post again, except that last night I'm positive he was watching 'Cinderella Man.'
6.22.2006
Very quick mini-reviews:
Cabaret (1972) - IMDb
I like a good musical, but for some reason Cabaret didn't do it for me. The songs were entertaining, the acting was pretty good, the movie paid attention to details and was very pretty, but the fact I had to look at Liza Minelli for 2 hours was a huge turn-off.
She played a great Sally Bowles and I was laughing at some of her lines, but she looks like a 12 year-old boy and it's hard to buy into her being somewhat of a prostitute.
This movie was good in visuals and good on paper, but the feel and mood just wasn't doing it for me.
Rating: 7/10
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) - IMDb
A feel-good comedy about three girls who move to New York and rent out a high class apartment in hopes of marrying millionaires, until unfortunately (or, fortunately, depending on how you look at it) they find that money and love don't always mix.
Highly predictable plot, but still enjoyable because of some good one-liners and nice eye candy. Even though she's on the posters and DVDs, Marilyn Monroe isn't really the star of this picture, she just has some cute jokes about how she's damn near blind without her glasses (most of which seem commonplace now, but back then were original).
It's all build-up until the last scene where all the ladies have all the men, and though it's expected from about ten minutes in, it's a very satisfying ending.
Rating: 7/10
North by Northwest (1959) - IMDb
Alfred Hitchcock. Cary Grant. Eva Marie Saint (hint: On the Waterfront).
Amazing script. About 10-15 minutes too long for my tastes, but maybe that's because I was watching it when I was tired. Who's to question Hitchcock anyway? What a genius.
See this movie.
Rating: 9.25/10
6.21.2006
So say you're walking down a hallway or a sidewalk or something and there's not very many people in your proximity, and as you're walking you see someone coming in the opposite direction, right in your path of travel.
So you and that other person keep walking, hoping the other person will move to one side, and they don't, so eventually you're about 2-3 feet from each other, and you decide that you'll move to the right. Then at the same time they move to their left, so you're still in front of each other.
'Sorry, excuse me,' you both say, then you both move a step in the other direction, so you're still in front of each other. This goes back and forth two or three more times before finally one of you just stops moving and says 'alright, I'll go this way, you go that way,' and then you both walk off feeling like jackasses.
God, I hate that.
6.18.2006
Saw a trailer for this a long time ago and just now got to remembering about it.
The early opinion: I doubt it will be fantastic or revolutionary, but it looks like this movie has potential. As long as it's not a case of 'all the funny lines in the trailer' I'll be pleased. Billy Crudup has become fairly mainstream in the last few years, delivering solid performances (Almost Famous, Big Fish, MI3). Maggie Gyllenhaal is really pretty, so who cares if she can act. I really like David Duchovny, though I don't know why. Julianne Moore... no comment. Even if the movie is going to suck, the trailer is very well done.
6.13.2006
Today I was at Best Buy making some routine DVD purchases ('Jaws' and 'Army of Darkness') and at the checkout there was this box of whoopee cushions, labeled free if you purchase a copy of the new 'Pink Panther' movie. I'm sorry, but if you're using the concept of a free whoopee cushion to sell a movie, that means two things:
A) The movie was atrocious and a disgrace to the original.
B) No one older than 7 wants a whoopee cushion.
I love the original 'Pink Panther' movies and this remake does nothing more than piss me off. How does one go from Peter Sellers, who was quite possibly the funniest actor ever, to Steve Martin, who's making 'Cheaper by the Dozen 6' and way beyond his prime. What a joke. The only way I would buy that movie is if it came with two $20 bills and an incinerator so I could destroy the movie and make the world a better place - except for the ozone layer, but who really cares about that?
I don't know why I'm so hyped for this movie. Maybe it's because Meryl Streep owns and Anne Hathaway is hot (in this movie and in The Princess Diaries, which I'm ashamed to say I've seen multiple times). I started reading the book a long time ago, but wasn't really feeling it, but this movie is giving me a good vibe. Check this shit out:
and
6.12.2006
All About Eve - IMDb
An oldie but a goodie, this story of Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), who is obsessed with a over-the-hill actress Margo Channing (Bette Davis), and showers her with praise, before becoming her assistant, understudy, and eventually competition. A tale of lies, betrayal, friendships, and loyalty, the apprentice-master relationship story has never been so good.
The performance of a lifetime is by Bette Davis, who portrays the vulnerability to flattery and shame of being undermined to perfection. Anne Baxter is also very pretty and convincing as the title character, and while some people find fault in her performance, I felt very attached to her Eve. Also delivering well is George Sanders as the narrator and 'knows all the drama' columnist and eventual partner for Eve. Hell, there's even a small cameo by Marilyn Monroe where you can't help but stare at her. Seriously, it's impossible to watch anyone else when she's on screen. Try it - I dare you.
The movie seems to drag on at a few points, but it is all for the sweet payoff in the end. Wit and objectivity are in every word of this movie and the praise for the screenplay is well deserved. Also, a great ending that shows what goes around comes around.
If there's one thing to be learned from this, take note that things are rarely what they seem.
Rating: 9.5/10
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous - IMDb
I'll admit the first movie was watchable and I'd give it a 6-6.5. Unfortunately this sequel was dull, predictable, cliche, sloppy, and terribly acted.
Sandra Bullock can't act. Regina King was good in 'Jerry Maguire,' but playing a tomboy is not something she should do again. Ever.
The movie was 30 minutes... wait, 90 minutes too long, and if I hadn't been multitasking I would've sent an angry letter to Warner Bros. asking for my money back, even though it was on HBO.
Rating: 3/10 because Heather Burns is kinda cute.
6.07.2006
The Apartment - IMDb
I'm developing a Billy Wilder addiction. But it's okay, because all his movies are fantastic.
This movie's premise is that Jack Lemmon's character is in the corporate world, and he lets his bosses use his apartment to have affairs, enabling him to advance up the ladder at work. Things get complicated when the Big Boss wants to use the apartment to bed Shirley MacLaine, who Jack Lemmon's character likes.
Jack Lemmon always delivers, and this is a fine role for him. I don't particularly like Shirley MacLaine, but I see her with Lemmon as a fitting screen pair. It's cute, and why he likes her is believable.
In short, this absurd premise for a movie flows smoothly from beginning to end, but I think the elements of traditional comedy have faded through the years and left this film a bit 'dated' by today's standards. Allow me to explain:
Point 1: We find out Jack Lemmon likes Shirley MacLaine.
Point 2: Jack Lemmon loans out his apartment to let his bosses have affairs.
Point 3: Lemmon's boss asks to use the apartment.
Point 4: Lemmon asks Shirley MacLaine out on a date, but she says she can't because she's seeing someone else.
Point 5: ...can you see how it all fits together?
Sure, this is a traditional setup and if it didn't happen this way there would be no movie; however, this happens numerous times, making the movie quite predictable. I can't push beyond that in my head and it takes away a lot from the surprise factor.
Though the comedy values are a little prehistoric, the message of the movie and overall complexities invoked emotionally still stand straight today, and make this movie stand strong. It's so hard not to spoil it... but the way things work out makes me feel a little warm and fuzzy on the inside.
The movie is highly enjoyable, and it even has an amusing jab at Marilyn Monroe, which is funnny if you know her history with Billy Wilder. There's a few good quotable lines and I'd definitely recommend it.
Rating: 8.5/10
White Heat - IMDb
I was loving this movie from the first shot - train robbery scenes almost always turn out good. What starts as a simple hold-up for $300,000 turns into a three chapter wild ride with plenty of gangsters, coppers, and murders to get the blood going for an hour after you see 'The End.' James Cagney is Cody Jarrett, a tough-guy gangster who loves his Ma more than anyone (even his scheming wife [Virginia Mayo]), and is smarter and tougher than your average mobster.
The plot gets going with a train robbery, but once the trail of evidence gets hot for Cody Jarrett, he plans confesses to another crime that happened at the same time as the train hold-up, resulting in him getting a few years of jail time instead of the gas chamber. Smooth move, until he runs into an undercover cop in the pen and befriends him (obviously not knowing he's a cop), planning an escape and a high scoring job for the road. Things get, well, complicated.
It seems like the writers sat down, did one scene, then thought, 'alright, the characters plan for this to happen, so let's go the complete opposite direction, and do this.' The whole movie is like this. Oh, and it all makes sense - no deus ex machina here. Superb writing, and when mixed with Cagney's amazing performance, this film rises up high in the rankings of 'Top Gangster Movies.' No, it doesn't top the list, but it's really damn good.
P.S. Virginia Mayo is really pretty.
Rating: 9/10
All About Eve - IMDb
Not applicable because my (rented) DVD was scratched, God damnit. Right when I was getting into the drama, too. Review pending a new, working copy of the movie.
6.06.2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
