*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky
Genre: musical, comedy
Plot: overweight teenage dreams about becoming a TV star
Acting: not sure Travolta was a good choice to impersonate a feminine character, he takes it too much over the top
Drama: bad diet and racism
Action: I’m sure they used tons of energy with those dancing routines
Funny: it is in places but the humor feels kinda forced often enough
Visuals: I’ll never understand why overweight women insist on wearing sleeveless tops
Soundtrack: wonderful just like the stage musical
Comments: Travolta tries to steal the show but it doesn’t quite work out. Pfeiffer is too skinny. Walken is absolutely charming. Bynes is cute as a doll but I would have liked to see more acting from her and not just sitting like a doll, some more singing would have been nice too. I didn’t know Marsden could sing and he does it well. Too bad he spends most of the time smiling like an idiot. Latifah seemed to be made for that part. Snow was annoying as the part required. Can’t say much about Efron since I haven’t seen him before but he was cute. Blonsky is also new to me. She’s got a great voice that’s for sure.
Rating: 3/5
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Movie Review: Transformers
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight, John Turturro
Genre: action, sci fi
Plot: aliens looking like huge robots hidden under vehicle appearance come to fight with each others on Earth
Acting: LaBeouf wasn’t so bad, Turturo was annoying as always
Drama: when your car is not a Porshe that sure is a drama
Action: the robots fight a lot
Funny: again the robots are… sort of
Visuals: good CGI
Soundtrack: errr… I’m sure there was one
Comments: It would have helped if I had watched the cartoons first to know which robot is which. The little meowing bad guy was funny. And I would have liked to have the yellow car. Not much else to say… you can imagine why. It’s a kid movie.
Rating: 3/5
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Movie Review: Evan Almighty
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Goodman
Genre: comedy
Plot: God asks a congressman, of all people, to build a huge ark to save a couple of hundreds of people who wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it hadn’t been for that ark
Acting: Morgan Freeman was good as ever
Drama: a fashion dilemma?
Action: ark ride
Funny: the animals were and a few of Carell’s reactions
Visuals: the ark the flood and the ride
Soundtrack: oldies but not bad just cheesy
Comments: I’m one of the few people who found The 40 Years Virgin to be a waste of my time and I also don’t like Jim Carrey at all so I had no hopes to like this movie. The only reason I saw it was because of Morgan Freeman, which by the way gets way too little screen time. Like with most sequels this one goes bigger too, unfortunately the plot doesn’t exactly hold in many places. Can you actually imagine all the windows being open in Washington for the birds to fly in when all the offices there are actually running on air conditioning? And if I was the wife I would have had him committed long before that. Really, we need a more modern God who keeps up with the advances of our society or we’re all doomed.
Rating: 3/5
Featuring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Goodman
Genre: comedy
Plot: God asks a congressman, of all people, to build a huge ark to save a couple of hundreds of people who wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it hadn’t been for that ark
Acting: Morgan Freeman was good as ever
Drama: a fashion dilemma?
Action: ark ride
Funny: the animals were and a few of Carell’s reactions
Visuals: the ark the flood and the ride
Soundtrack: oldies but not bad just cheesy
Comments: I’m one of the few people who found The 40 Years Virgin to be a waste of my time and I also don’t like Jim Carrey at all so I had no hopes to like this movie. The only reason I saw it was because of Morgan Freeman, which by the way gets way too little screen time. Like with most sequels this one goes bigger too, unfortunately the plot doesn’t exactly hold in many places. Can you actually imagine all the windows being open in Washington for the birds to fly in when all the offices there are actually running on air conditioning? And if I was the wife I would have had him committed long before that. Really, we need a more modern God who keeps up with the advances of our society or we’re all doomed.
Rating: 3/5
Friday, July 6, 2007
Movie Review: Live Free or Die Hard
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q
Genre: action, thriller
Plot: greedy terrorists attacks the whole country this time
Acting: not totally convincing, Willis keeps his pensive-amused grin and while it’s amusing to see it it doesn’t always fit the situation
Drama: US seemingly under attack, McClane’s daughter gets abducted… you choose
Action: quite a lot though somehow not as much as in the previous movies… is Willis getting a tad old?
Funny: the dialog is in places… the hacker is just annoying… and the daughter can kick ass, yeah!
Visuals: some of the stunts are impressive
Soundtrack: didn’t notice it
Comments: The longest a character lives the writers just seem to run out of ideas. So first there was a tower building, then an airport followed by a city and now it’s the whole country. Wanna bet the world is next if there ever is a fifth one? McClane hasn’t changed much except for the lack of hair and slightly bigger look, he’s still like a dog with a bone when confronted with a tough situation. We realize he hadn’t made up with his wife, of course since after 12 years Bonnie Bedelia couldn’t possibly look like she’s 20 again, he doesn’t get along well with his daughter, who he obviously taught her defense classes at some point, and he’s apparently surpassed by the today’s world. While pairing him with someone worked more or less in the third movie, pairing him with a weaker one, the hacker doesn’t have much of a back bone and he’s just a whiny kid who would like to be someone but is not ready for it yet, doesn’t exactly work and I pity the kid if the daughter really makes up her mind to ever hook up with him. There are a couple of déjà vu scenes like Willis on top of a plane or Maggie Q’s version of the Terminator bitch who just won’t die. The poor thing gets killed again like she did in X-Men 2, and since I mentioned that I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the hacker was someone like Stanley aka Hugh Jackman in Swordfish. Would that have kicked ass or what? One in all it’s not really a bad movie, but the first sequel was my favorite of all and compared to that there’s too much tech and less action in it. Along with Terminator Die Hard is probably one of the few series whose first sequel is better than the original. Haven’t decided yet if I’m hoping for a fifth one. Probably not.
Rating: 3/5
Featuring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q
Genre: action, thriller
Plot: greedy terrorists attacks the whole country this time
Acting: not totally convincing, Willis keeps his pensive-amused grin and while it’s amusing to see it it doesn’t always fit the situation
Drama: US seemingly under attack, McClane’s daughter gets abducted… you choose
Action: quite a lot though somehow not as much as in the previous movies… is Willis getting a tad old?
Funny: the dialog is in places… the hacker is just annoying… and the daughter can kick ass, yeah!
Visuals: some of the stunts are impressive
Soundtrack: didn’t notice it
Comments: The longest a character lives the writers just seem to run out of ideas. So first there was a tower building, then an airport followed by a city and now it’s the whole country. Wanna bet the world is next if there ever is a fifth one? McClane hasn’t changed much except for the lack of hair and slightly bigger look, he’s still like a dog with a bone when confronted with a tough situation. We realize he hadn’t made up with his wife, of course since after 12 years Bonnie Bedelia couldn’t possibly look like she’s 20 again, he doesn’t get along well with his daughter, who he obviously taught her defense classes at some point, and he’s apparently surpassed by the today’s world. While pairing him with someone worked more or less in the third movie, pairing him with a weaker one, the hacker doesn’t have much of a back bone and he’s just a whiny kid who would like to be someone but is not ready for it yet, doesn’t exactly work and I pity the kid if the daughter really makes up her mind to ever hook up with him. There are a couple of déjà vu scenes like Willis on top of a plane or Maggie Q’s version of the Terminator bitch who just won’t die. The poor thing gets killed again like she did in X-Men 2, and since I mentioned that I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the hacker was someone like Stanley aka Hugh Jackman in Swordfish. Would that have kicked ass or what? One in all it’s not really a bad movie, but the first sequel was my favorite of all and compared to that there’s too much tech and less action in it. Along with Terminator Die Hard is probably one of the few series whose first sequel is better than the original. Haven’t decided yet if I’m hoping for a fifth one. Probably not.
Rating: 3/5
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Movie Review: Ratatouille
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, Peter O'Toole, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo
Genre: animation, comedy
Plot: a rat develops kitchen skills
Acting: from the animation point of view it’s very well done and believable; the voices aren’t bad either
Drama: it’s a rat’s life
Action: that part is fun too
Funny: plenty of it
Visuals: I liked the camera moves and the characters and settings are well done
Soundtrack: quite nice
Comments: It’s been a while since I truly liked an animated movie or any other movie for that matter. Kids will love it but it should amuse adults quite a lot too. I’m insisting on the fun part but also on the visuals and although I’d rather not eat in a restaurant ran by rats they were cute too.
Rating: 4/5
Featuring: Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, Peter O'Toole, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo
Genre: animation, comedy
Plot: a rat develops kitchen skills
Acting: from the animation point of view it’s very well done and believable; the voices aren’t bad either
Drama: it’s a rat’s life
Action: that part is fun too
Funny: plenty of it
Visuals: I liked the camera moves and the characters and settings are well done
Soundtrack: quite nice
Comments: It’s been a while since I truly liked an animated movie or any other movie for that matter. Kids will love it but it should amuse adults quite a lot too. I’m insisting on the fun part but also on the visuals and although I’d rather not eat in a restaurant ran by rats they were cute too.
Rating: 4/5
Friday, June 15, 2007
Movie Review: Ocean’s Thirteen
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Ellen Barkin
Genre: comedy, action
Plot: with some twists and apparently elaborated in places but it doesn’t really compare to the other two
Acting: the triplet is doing well as expected, Pacino disappointed a little but he didn’t have much to work with and maybe another actor would have fitted the part better. Would have liked to see more of Garcia, Barkin’s part was a disgrace, a very weak and unnecessary female character.
Drama: it evolves around money
Action: less than in the other too
Funny: it was the same trademark humor they used us to
Visuals: an architectural mutation
Soundtrack: appropriate
Comments: While it was fun for sure, it was not nearly as entertaining as the previous two movies. It lacks a strong female part and love interest. I liked it better when the boys kept their operation on a smaller scale and there was much more in stake.
Rating: 3/5
Featuring: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Ellen Barkin
Genre: comedy, action
Plot: with some twists and apparently elaborated in places but it doesn’t really compare to the other two
Acting: the triplet is doing well as expected, Pacino disappointed a little but he didn’t have much to work with and maybe another actor would have fitted the part better. Would have liked to see more of Garcia, Barkin’s part was a disgrace, a very weak and unnecessary female character.
Drama: it evolves around money
Action: less than in the other too
Funny: it was the same trademark humor they used us to
Visuals: an architectural mutation
Soundtrack: appropriate
Comments: While it was fun for sure, it was not nearly as entertaining as the previous two movies. It lacks a strong female part and love interest. I liked it better when the boys kept their operation on a smaller scale and there was much more in stake.
Rating: 3/5
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Movie Review: California Dreamin’ (Nesfarsit)
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Armand Assante, Jamie Elman, Razvan Vasilescu, Maria Dinulescu, Alexandru Margineanu
Genre: drama
Plot: simple but oh so actual
Acting: Armand Assante was good as usual, Razvan Vasilescu was briliant, Maria Dinulescu wasn’t bad, it still shows that she’s used to star in soap operas though
Drama: the whole Romanian system
Action: street fight scene
Funny: tragically so
Visuals: it bothered me the fact that it was shot with a mobile camera, it’s tiring for the eyes I think and it doesn’t improve the quality of the movie
Soundtrack: nothing special
Award: Un certain regard at Cannes in 2007
Comments: For an unfinished movie it's not bad at all. It’s definitely a Romanian movie, it seems this is all they’re able to produce these days. They get awards and prizes for them because people outside are shocked to see such a reality but the thing is we live in it and this is the saddest part of all.
Rating: 3/5
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean - At World’s End
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Stellan Skarsgård
Genre: adventure
Plot: quest to get Jack Sparrow and Will’s dad back
Acting: As always Johnny Deep stole the show. The movie is not so much character based but more action based so they worked with what they had
Drama: plenty but all is well when it ends well… sort of
Action: lots of fighting between pirates
Funny: it’s definitely funny, Jack is priceless, but it doesn’t have as many gags as the second movie, which is a good thing
Visuals: nothing to complain about, great pleasure for the eye
Soundtrack: it’s Hans Zimmer so of course it’s spot on
Comments: I would say this movie is better than the second one though that was entertaining too. The first one is still my favorite and I consider it to be better as a whole. It’s normal since it’s more character based, but once they have solid characters defined they can only focus on the action and then you can’t help feeling that something is lacking. It’s either that or change the characters so much that they’re not the ones you fell in love with in the first place. That’s the sad part about sequels and why they’re never as good as the originals. But even if the relationship between Will and Elisabeth is not working now that they have they’re own agenda, we do get our unexpected bitter sweet happy ending which leaves us with a tinny little hope for more. As a side observation it’s funny how Elizabeth has a different hair color in each movie and the way Will proposes to her. Happy many returns!
Rating: 4/5
Featuring: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Stellan Skarsgård
Genre: adventure
Plot: quest to get Jack Sparrow and Will’s dad back
Acting: As always Johnny Deep stole the show. The movie is not so much character based but more action based so they worked with what they had
Drama: plenty but all is well when it ends well… sort of
Action: lots of fighting between pirates
Funny: it’s definitely funny, Jack is priceless, but it doesn’t have as many gags as the second movie, which is a good thing
Visuals: nothing to complain about, great pleasure for the eye
Soundtrack: it’s Hans Zimmer so of course it’s spot on
Comments: I would say this movie is better than the second one though that was entertaining too. The first one is still my favorite and I consider it to be better as a whole. It’s normal since it’s more character based, but once they have solid characters defined they can only focus on the action and then you can’t help feeling that something is lacking. It’s either that or change the characters so much that they’re not the ones you fell in love with in the first place. That’s the sad part about sequels and why they’re never as good as the originals. But even if the relationship between Will and Elisabeth is not working now that they have they’re own agenda, we do get our unexpected bitter sweet happy ending which leaves us with a tinny little hope for more. As a side observation it’s funny how Elizabeth has a different hair color in each movie and the way Will proposes to her. Happy many returns!
Rating: 4/5
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Movie Review: Shrek The Third
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: green ogre, cat, donkey and spoiled brat aka Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Justin Timberlake
Genre: animation, comedy
Plot: Shrek goes look for another heir to the throne to replace him while fighting fatherhood thoughts.
Acting: Murphy and Banderas kinda steal the show
Drama: the way they included Princesses from other stories… I hate it when they mix up stories
Action: Prince Charming is taking over the world
Funny: Shrek and Fiona taking care of the babies
Visuals: humans still look ugly, everything else looks much better
Soundtrack: the first one was better
Comments: For some reason I enjoyed it less than the other two. I hope there won’t be fourth one.
Rating: 3/5
Monday, May 21, 2007
Hugh Jackman in Sunset Boulevard
I've been looking for this for a while now since Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard has become one of my favorite musicals.
Hugh Jackman singing Sunset Boulevard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELEtTFK-_DQ
Documentary about the production of the musical in Australia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44HiPwv3kCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvPbDRv-59E
He looked so young!
Hugh Jackman singing Sunset Boulevard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELEtTFK-_DQ
Documentary about the production of the musical in Australia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44HiPwv3kCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvPbDRv-59E
He looked so young!
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