watching movies one cup at a time

As bad as you think it is?  It’s worse.

I’ll warn you up front that there are “spoilers” in this review since people are making a big deal about the ending. If you haven’t seen it and don’t want to know the ending, skip this review until later.

I read “The Mist” when I was in high school and I have always really liked it. I had mixed feelings about a movie version but in general I was pretty excited to see it. We all know how mixed Stephen King movies can be. But one of Frank Darabont’s other Stephen King movies, The Shawshank Redemption, is absolutely brilliant. So the odds were in favor of this one turning out better than most. Read the rest of this entry »

In a word: Boring. I feel like the trailer did a bait-and-switch on us. If you watch the trailer for this film, it’s all about magic, bouncy balls, cutesy Natalie Portman, and how wacky everything in the store is. In retrospect there really isn’t much telling you what the actual story of the movie is. And when you watch it, all that wacky stuff from the trailer is in the first 15 minutes. The rest of the movie is Mr. Magorium telling everyone he is going to die, Natalie having a 23 yr. old mid-life crisis, a kid who has no friends, and an accountant who is pretty much there so they can make cliché accountant jokes. And none of it is very interesting. Read the rest of this entry »

I remember seeing the first Matrix trailer during the Super Bowl that year. It was pretty minimal. Basically all it consisted of was the line “What Is The Matrix?” accompanied by the now infamous shot of Keanu Reeves bending backwards, dodging bullets in impossible slow motion. But the cultural reaction was immediate. “Did you see that? What the hell IS the Matrix?” The buzz was started. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the third dazzling film from Australian director, Baz Luhrman. He has a very unique directing style which people either love or hate. It is not generic, it’s not fast food, and it’s not easy-to-ignore. His films are bright, colorful, fast, detailed and full of life. I love them, even tho he has only managed to make three in 15 years. Romeo + Juliet was brilliant and Strictly Ballroom was a great debut already showing a lot of style that would flourish in his next films. Baz’s blended vision of pop culture mixed with old world tradition produces an amazing experience that is very rare in movies these days. It takes you on a wild ride you don’t want to get off. Read the rest of this entry »