Green Zone (2010)

Starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass, I fully expected this to be an action flick along the lines of Jason Bourne films which these two worked on together. I was wrong, this is an Iraq War film, a war film, fictional and all about the lack of WMD's (Weapons of Mass Destruction).

Movies like this do nothing but upset me. They frustrate me because there is a lot of fact behind the lack of WMD's and the administration of the time's faults. I don't like rehashing it over and over again. I can understand why this wasn't a blockbuster, people just don't want to be reminded again and again how we are to blame for something we couldn't control, stop, and didn't agree with.

It was a fairly well put together movie, and had some very exciting scenes. There was so real tension at the end, but I didn't care. I don't like to escape reality to something so realistic. Watch it if you are a big Damon fan, if not pass.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947810/

Share:

Read More

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Chasing list completions can get boring, so I decided to branch out from my current goals and pick a few random movies from each genre and give them a shot.

This western has always been spoken of very highly, and its absence from the AFI Top 10 Westerns made me wonder if this was an oversight or overrated.

The story goes like this. Bandits attack a farming town regularly, stealing food and women. Farmers look to retaliate and hire seven men to chase them off. Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, and Robert Vaughn are the most notable of the Seven and Eli Wallach plays the head bandit.

A simple story with some meaningful lessons and cute banter with the kids in the town. As someone who isn't a huge western fan I liked it. I don't want to watch it again, and given the caliber of the other films in the AFI Top 10 Westerns this indeed should have been in the lower half.

If you like westerns you have to watch this one, if not, don't bother; it is very predictable.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054047/

Share:

Read More

Date Night (2010)

The big comedy movie of the spring starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey, the two most popular comedians on television right now. The duo should be a blockbuster, and I have to say I was disappointed with this movie.

Disappointed!?! And I gave it an 8/10?? How you might ask... it's this simple, if there is a comedic pair that will define our time in cinema history I expect it to be these two. Therefore they work on a completely different plain then the rest of the comedy I watch throughout the year.

With a better script and some more screen time together these two will be making movies that will be in the AFI film lists, the imdb top 250, and other various best comedy lists with the likes of Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

So about this movie. A married couple with kids, jobs, and little time for each other decide to go into New York City for a special night together. When they are mistaken for a couple of people some gangsters are after they end up running around town Ad-Libbing a lot of good dialog as the two figure their way out of their mess.

Still very much worth watching, and with Carroll's recent announcement that he will be ending his career on the television show The Office I hope these two pair up again in the future.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1279935/

Share:

Read More

Cape Fear (1962)

Robert Mitchum was just fantastic in The Night of the Hunter (1955), and this film feels like a sequel on his very scary performance for several reasons. Both have him hunting down children where you play the role of the child. Both have him hunting in the dark in the swamp. Both have him humming a tune that sends chills down your spine.

Another film from the AFI Top 100 Thrills, a list I have been very happy to work my way through. This story starts with Gregory Peck, who testified against Robert Mitchum which put him in jail for 7 years, approached upon Mitchum's release. Mitchum starts intimidating but never threatening Peck. He makes inappropriate comments about his family, home, and job scaring the family into action and sparking a battle.

An excellent and exciting film, Martin Scorsese remade this film in 1991. Some day I'll have to check it out also.

Vote: 9/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055824/

Share:

Read More

Victor/Victoria (1982)

Watched this one on a whim while browsing my to-watch list with some of my family. They raved about it so we gave it a shot. Nominated for 7 Oscars and 5 Golden Globes this film even won one of each for best Musical/Comedy. Starring Julie Andrews and James Garner in a slapstick screenplay about a female singer (Andrews) that is struggling to get a break. Through the guidance of Garner she pretends to be a man in drag to appeal to a different audience. So a woman, pretending to be a man, pretending to be a woman. Get it?

There are some very funny scenes, great one liners, and some fun musical numbers in this one. The thing that made it average was Garner's performance at the end. Stepping in for Andrews on a performance was quite annoying to me. Not a good way to end a fun movie, it was just too cheesy and let me with a sour taste.

All in all it was fun, with a lot of musicals left to watch I would guess this is one of the better ones. Note: It was enough of a comedy to make the AFI 100 Laughs, so check it out if you like Musicals.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084865/

Share:

Read More

The Killing (1956)

About a week behind on this post. With some family in town we pulled this one off the movie shelf. Probably my favorite movie from 2008, this classic Stanley Kubrick was one of the first non-sequential films. Considered to confusing for audiences in the 50's it did poorly at the box office. Kubrick was asked to re-edit sequentially, but after he hated the product he went back to the original. Winner of no awards it was overlook, and it wasn't until Kubrick's Paths of Glory and Spartacus that people started to look back at this film and realize just how good it was.

One of the few movies good enough to hold my attention enough to not pause or even look at the runtime to see how much longer was left. I was completely engrossed and still loved it after a 2nd watch.

As we are all familiar with non-sequential films now, you know just how much you can get out of it after repeat viewings. Just a great film, check this one out.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049406/

Share:

Read More

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

The Superman that ended the series, most comic series are like this, you need an awful one to convince the production company that another one is not worth it.

The plot is incredibly weak, it seemed like I wasted and hour and a half on a single comic that would take 5-10 minutes to read. Superman fights Nuclear Man while ridding the world of nuclear explosives... yea that's it.

There is what might have been meant as a funny skit where Clark and Superman attend the same dinner party. However, it made me feel like I was watching a bad sitcom. Completely unoriginal, just not entertaining.

Believe it or not, a 3/10 is generous because I like the series.

Vote: 3/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094074/

Share:

Read More