watching movies one cup at a time

This is a kid’s flick about the Loch Ness monster, except in this movie he’s not a monster. He’s a lovable, misunderstood little scamp that devours lots of food and is best friend’s with a young boy who finds his egg. Too cute for you? Well there is that whole WWII thing going on at the same time, which the kid’s father has already died in. And the intrusive soldiers shacked up at the family’s home, adding a lot of tension and generally shooting at whatever comes in their path. But in general it’s a nice enough story that kids probably around 7 or 8 will enjoy best. There is some kid style action but not enough to be frightening. And of course there is a happy ending, which I think is a must in a kid’s flick. Nothing very challenging here but like I said, it’s nice. And sometimes that’s just good enough.

Much nas been said about Mickey Rourke’s role in this movie and his subsequent award noms and wins. And truly he does a briliant job in this movie. I believed every minute of it and it was far from over-the-top. He really put his heart and soul into this flawed character and it paid off in a rich and multi-dimensional portrayal of a man with nothing left to lose.

This wasn’t Rocky where the loveable loser goes against all odds to be the big hero. There is no glory left for Rourke’s character Randy The Ram. He is beaten, broken, and left with nothing. What meaning he can barely scrape together is empty and hollow, leaving a lonely man who just has to keep moving or completely disappear forever. He holds on to wrestling as his one lifeline to any kind of self-esteem. And when his body just can’t take any more of the weekly beatings, he keeps doing it anyway because he realizes he has absolutely nothing else to give his life any value at all. He may as well wrestle until it kills him because he literally has nothing else to live for.

While the performance were great, I gotta say the one thing I didn’t like was just the non-stop bummer this movie was. The whole subplot about Randy trying to reconcile with his grown daughter was heartbreaking. And I know it was right for the movie, but it just ends on a very hopeless note. You leave the movie feeling like you got “body-slammed.” That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not really the uplifting charge I prefer to movies I see these days. We all have enough in real life to bum us out, I don’t really need something else helping.

Overall, brilliant performances and worth seeing. But be in stable emotional state or you might lose it.

I feel like I’ve grown up with the Watchmen. I read the entire series in high school and immediately loved it. I enjoyed the rich characters, the harsh realities, the bleak outlook, and the compelling artwork. I loved how Dave Gibbons panels mirrored eachother as they moved into the next scene. And I loved how Alan Moore’s many tangled storylines all came together in the end to a satisfying, albeit horrific ending.

There has been talk of a Watchmen movie ever since the first Batman film made boatloads of cash. I was among those who thought it would be near impossible to condense such a rich and detailed story into 2 hours. So when it became clear that finally, after 20+ years, someone was actually going to make a go of it, I did get excited. And everything leading up to the release pointed to good things. The trailer was great, the costumes looked legit, it was all coming together.

So now that I’ve seen the actual movie, did it deliver? For the most part, yes, it did deliver an exceptional movie that is above and beyond just about anything else out there. But it is not without it’s flaws and I think this strikes at the heart of the contradictions between the comic book crowd and the movie-going public. Read the rest of this entry »

Truly an American classic. The story of Romeo and Juliet has been told a million different ways in a million different movies. There could be a whole section on Netflix just of star-crossed lovers from rival families/countries/races/sports teams – you name it. This movie takes Romeo and Juliet into New York City in the ’50s, and the two feuding families are replaced by brawling street gangs. The Montagues become the Anglo Jets, led by Riff, and the Capulets become the Puerto Rican Sharks, led by Bernardo. At a dance, Tony, former leader of the Jets and Riff’s best friend, and Maria, Bernardo’s little sister, see each other across the room and it’s love at first sight. With opposition from both sides, they meet secretly and their love grows deeper. However, the gangs are plotting one last rumble, a fight that will finally end the battle for control of the streets. And of course the story then reaches it’s tragic conclusion. Read the rest of this entry »

I hate Meg Ryan. I really do. I hate the cutesy-poo BS she does in all her movies. It makes me wanna puke. Ah… I feel better now that I got that out. I have to admit though, When Harry Met Sally is probably her best movie. And I give most of the credit for that to Billy Crystal. This is probably his best movie too. The story is good, the directing is good, it’s got everything going for it.

This movie is up there in the rom-com (romantic comedy) hall of fame. Meg Ryan was on a role in the 80s and 90s with her romantic comedies. She was like their patron saint, blowing weepy girly dust all over the movie landscape. I ain’t mad at her, movies have to appeal to many different audiences. And women LOVE rom-coms. L-O-V-E them. I know this first-hand because honestly I would be completely ignorant to the Meg Ryan canon if not for my wife. But you know, I’m not all “Aliens! Smash! Explosions! Guns! Zombies!” (though I gotta admit I do love all that). I can appreciate a good “chick flick”. And this one is definitely one of the best. It was written by Nora Ephron, who is also a rom-com goddess. She wrote the other two Meg Ryan romantic comedies people love, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail. You have to hand it to her, she writes a good chick flick.

The interesting plot device of moving through such a long period of time during the two main characters relationship is very well done and is an excellent way to establish the connection between these two. It really shows the audience in an effective way how they progressed from not even liking eachother when they met to being friends, then best friends, then the inevitable romantic relationship. It feels very honest. And their frank and honest discussions about relationships comes off as genuine and not forced or simply there to move the plot along.

Bottom Line: I am definitely recommending this. Just don’t invite me over when you watch it, okay?

This is a comic book movie for movie fans. There is less of a concern about sticking to the history of the comic book characters than there is for making a blow-em-up action movie. So characters from the books are kind of thrown around and stuck here and there without any regard to their literary history. And that’s all fine considering this movie will make more in one weekend than all the comic books combined for one year. But as a movie it’s pure popcorn entertainment. Forget story or logic, clearly this about fights and explosions. And it does deliver that. Hugh Jackman continues to do an amazing job as Wolverine. He has really fleshed out a real character that at this point no one else could play. Danny Huston is great as Stryker and Liev Schreiber, though not an obvious choice at all for Sabretooth, pulls it off in his own way by going for more of the sinister, evil angle than the brute force of the character in the first X-Men movie. Will.I.Am however totally sucks and should stick to whatever the hell he does these days in music.

Bottom Line: Good popcorn flick. Fans of the series should enjoy it.