watching movies one cup at a time

The 3 previous Indiana Jones movies were big hits in the ’80s and who didn’t love them? Raiders Of The Lost Ark is still an action film masterpiece almost 30 years later. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade ended that trilogy and seemed to close the door on the Indy stories as he triumphantly rode off into the sunset after defeating the Nazis for the last time. One has to wonder then why make a fourth Indiana Jones movie almost 20 years after that seemingly final chapter? You would hope that it’s to relive the high entertainment and quality of the first films and get back the thrill you had in the theaters when experiencing them. But sometimes there are just some things that should be left in the past. Read the rest of this entry »

In theaters now, Iron Man is the long-awaited film based on the Marvel comic book superhero. Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, a rich, boyish genius whose company builds sophisticated weapons for the military. But after he’s kidnapped by terrorists using his own company’s weapons, he decides he can no longer be a part of building tools of destruction. While held captive he builds his first version of the Iron Man suit which he uses to escape. Once home he declares that his company will no longer be making weapons, which doesn’t sit well with his partner Obidiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Tony starts to perfect his Iron Man suit in order to go out and stop the terrorists who have been using his company’s weapons. And of course eventually he and Stane have to come to a final showdown. Read the rest of this entry »

This film is the 4th version of the Invasion of The Body Snatchers that’s been released. Originally the first film released in the 50’s was a rather obvious “red scare” flick barely hiding it’s metaphor of alien clones as evil commies coming and brainwashing freedom-loving Americans. However now that the “red menace” is a forgotten bedtime story, what do the aliens represent this time? Read the rest of this entry »

I really enjoyed this movie but I gotta tell ya, it was a huge bummer.

But first, what I liked about it. I always dig movies like this with big apocalyptic scenarios set in the future. It’s fascinating to me to speculate what could happen in certain circumstances. And good movies make it look so real, it’s easy to get into it. I Am Legend is a good movie. The scenario is believable and the flashback scenes of the impending doom are very dramatic and have weight. A movie is much scarier when it has an element of reality to it. Zombies and aliens are one thing, but an out-of-control virus that wipes out most of the planet is far too potentially real. And the scenes of a deserted NYC are amazing. Very effective and you can’t help but wonder how the hell they did that. Read the rest of this entry »