watching movies one cup at a time

This was actually better than I expected. Shia Lebouf left a bad taste in my mouth after Indiana Jones this summer. But when he’s in something more his speed, he does pretty good. This is directed by the same guy as Disturbia, another unexpectedly good Lebouf movie.

In this movie a rogue government intelligence computer starts it’s own coup attempt using a vast amount of resources to manipulate people into doing it’s bidding. It’s very fast-paced and the action is very believeable. Essentially it’s a chase movie and it is pretty fun to watch. The supporting cast all does an excellent job of keeping things from bring too flat. And it’s nice to see Michael Chiklis get to play an intelligent good-guy character for a change.

Nothing earth-shaking here, but it’s enjoyable.

I have to admit, I didn’t really watch this film. I’m not a JLo fan and I had no interest in it. But I wanted to mention it because I was in the room while my wife watched it and I could easily tell I wasn’t going to like it.

The movie is basically the story of Hector Lavoe who started the salsa movement in 1975 and brought it to the United States. To say this movie caused some controversy would be putting it mildly. As I understand it, the salsa community HATED this frickin’ movie. Even people who contributed and consulted on this flick later slammed it mercilessly. And considering the movie is about a salsa legend, that’s probably not a good thing. I could see maybe in a really, really early discussion it seemed like a great idea to get Marc and JLo in this flick together. But someone should have gotten wise and saw the trainwreck coming.

As for the movie, all I heard for 2 hours was JLo YELLING constantly “How can you do this to YOUR WIFE, Hector!” I mean just yelling the whole time – at this person, at that person, shrieking. And Marc Anthony just kind of dazed out. Man, it was so annoying. Why would I want to go see a movie where some arrogant diva is constantly berating everyone around her? This is entertainment? This is a story that has to be told?

It’s clear that JLo’s star is flickering out. She had a nice run but clearly no one’s buying what she’s selling any more. Her last album completely bombed and she has had a steady stream of movie failures starting with the career-killing Gigli. El Cantante might be the last straw. We’ll see.

Cate Blanchett is brilliant. Watching her play Elizabeth is truly watching a master at work. So many times she has dazzled us. Her big break to American audiences was the movie Elizabeth which this movie follows. And it was an interesting decision to revisit the same character 10 years later.

Ultimately though the story falls just a little flat. It was just okay. The first movie is clearly a more developed story. This feels a little too loose. And definitely does not have the same intrigue and politics that filled the first film. Through it all Cate Blanchett shines brightly with her near perfect performance. Her sudden shifts from vulnerable to domineering are subtle yet highly effective. And her almost mannequin-like portraits of the Queen are very impressive in their detail and strength.

In summary, watch the movie to see Cate but the story is lacking.

I really liked this one. It was smartly done and Amy Adams steals the show as Giselle. She’s absolutely perfect. She makes you laugh at her without her looking stupid, and she has the convincing air of innocence the character needs without seeming too naive or helpless. The story is an interesting one, having fictional cartoon characters cross over into the real world and become real themselves. It was all kind of a stretch but it worked fine enough.

Timothy Spall is great as Nathaniel, making him both rather buffoonish and tenderly sympathetic. James Marsden is a great Prince Edward, really fleshing out the archetype but not over doing it. Susan Sarandon had some fun doing this one. Her evil Queen is just the right balance of scary and absurd.

Another great family movie. Disney is really jumping on this whole “princess” thing so they can sell kids more crap. But it really didn’t feel like a Disney fairy tale movie. It stands on it’s own and it was a good time. It’s the same director as the really well done Eloise movies from a few years ago. He has a knack for this kind of story.

This movie is a sort of sci-fi horror film, like a cross between H.P. Lovecraft and Alien. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neil and is set out in space as Laurence Fishburne’s character captains a ship sent to rescue another ship called the Event Horizon. Sam Neil’s character built it and an experimental engine that creates black holes for the purposes of advanced space travel. But the ship had disappeared and then reappeared but without any of it’s crew. Turns out the experimental engine took the ship to some “evil dimension” and when it came back, the ship was essentially haunted and homicidal.

There are some pretty horrific scenes in here as we find out what happened to the crew. But I found the concept to be really interesting. And I’ve always liked the idea of horror in a sci-fi setting, as long as it’s done right. This movie is believable and the actors play the characters well. There aren’t a ton of effects but there are enough to make the point without going overboard.

Besides being very H.P. Lovecraft, this movie also has a very Hellraiser feel too it. In fact when Sam Neil’s character becomes totally “evil”, he is physically transformed and looks just like a Cenobite (the so-called demon figures) from the Hellraiser movies. The Hellraiser series actually attempted a sci-fi plot device in the Hellraiser: Bloodlines film with much less success.

Event Horizon was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson who also directed the Resident Evil films and Alien vs. Predator. This movie is close to that kind of genre so if you want an interesting movie without getting too serious, this one would be a good choice.

This is the fourth major movie from Mike Judge, the creator of King of the Hill and Beavis & Butthead, and it is definitely the most boring and unfunny. Judge hit a high point with his second film, Office Space, that he hasn’t been able to match since. While that movie has gathered a strong cult following and continues to be quoted 10 years later, his latest film just fails to connect. I was even a fan of his third film, Idiocracy, with it’s clever premise and funny send-up of trash culture elevated to ruling status. But Extract lacks all the cleverness of his previous films and feels like a half-baked collection of unfunny, unconnected ideas that don’t really go anywhere or give us any reason to get interested in the story. It’s just very flat and most of the cast feels as though they are sleepwalking through it. Don’t bother.