Under Pressure...

Movie Viewed August 2nd: The Visitor

Went and saw the Visitor at the Parkway Speakeasy. Awesome indie flick. I will give it an 87 (+/- 2). I love a film that raises new ideas and issues, yet never preaches tr forces a viewer into following the director/writer’s thoughts in the flick. It is similar to the cave in ESB… Luke asks Yoda what is in the cave, and Yoda responds “only what you bring with you” as Luke buckles his blaster and Lightsaber to his belt…

Movie Viewed July 31st: The Dark Knight

Awesome movie by Chris Nolan. It is Batman, so I cannot rate it. Best Batman flick yet. Saw it in the Historic Theatre in Alameda.

Movie Viewed July 11th: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Last weekend, Carrie and I went to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The movie was a visual feast, teeming with living creatures and emanating warmth. Guillermo del Toro is the man. I give it an 80.

Beautiful flick with a decent story; I would have given it a higher score if it had eliminated the romantic subplot with Abe Sapien. Not that the character isn’t interesting, it was just not given enough time to develop fully.

Movie Watched July 3rd, 2008: WANTED

I watched the frenetic thrill-ride that is the film WANTED yesterday at the lovely AMC Bay Street 16 in Emeryville.

It was action-packed and a visual feast, but fucking absurd at times. Not much to review for an action film. The comic that it is based upon sounds damned interesting, so maybe I will take a look at that…

Rating? I think it gets an “A” for “Action-rifique”… Or maybe a 75. I really have no idea how to rate a film like this; I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it is not setting a new bar for action or anything.

Movie Watched 6/28/2008: WALL-E

PIXAR is bad-ass.

I went and saw WALL-E this weekend at the newly opened Alameda Theatre. It was playing in the original auditorium, and it was magnificent. Three quarters of its 450+ seats were filled on a Saturday afternoon.

PIXAR delivers the goods again. A beautiful film that works for all audiences. Not a “kid’s movie”, but a piece of art that all should appreciate. 93/100 (+/- 1) for a score. No review necessary, just go and see it and bring a loved one to gaze in amazement together.

By the way, I am sure I missed a movie or two in the past month on video.

I also watched the delightful film Babe in awesome Comcast HD On Demand last evening (probably a 90/100 [+/- 2]). Good flick as well…

Movie Watched 5/23/2008: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This Friday evening, my wife and I ventured out to Jack London Square and the theater located there to see the latest Indiana Jones film.

We both went in expecting to be disappointed, but both of us agreed that we enjoyed the film more than we were expecting. This could be due to the fact that we both had read/heard a few reviews and expected it to rape our fond memories of Indiana Jones films of yore…

It wasn’t a perfect or great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it was quite enjoyable. I would give it a 75 (+/-3).

Movie Watched 5/19/2008: Priceless

This Sunday, I watched Priceless at the Parkway Speakeasy.

The film was a French romantic comedy about a gold-digging female (played by the always delightful Audrey Tatou) and a hotel waiter that becomes enamoured with her. The waiter becomes a gigolo to follow her and gain her affection. Comedy (?) ensues…

Good acting, but the script and cinematography was below the quality of the actors in the film. I would give it a 70 (+/-3).

Movie Watched (DVD) 5/17/2008: Sweeney Todd

I watched Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on DVD this weekend (rented for a buck on a whim at a RedBox; these things are going to kill video stores eventually).

Nice art direction and Sasha Baren Cohen kicked ass in it, but the actors in the lead (Depp and Bonham-Carter) were weaker singers than required for a musical.

The themes at the end of the film were damned interesting, but they were completely glossed over by the film. If the film had less exposition and more exploration of the events that occurred at the end of the film, it would have been a stronger film with great depth. Instead, it was a mediocre musical with dark comedy sprinkled throughout.

I was going to give this a 70, but it deserves a 62 (+/-3).

Movies Watched (video) 5/10/2008: Hudson Hawk and Tron

Since Carrie was out of town for Mother’s Day, I decided to rent some bad movies (Hudson Hawk and Freddie Got Fingered) and Tron.

I have always been fascinated by the hatred for Hudson Hawk, so I finally broke down and rented it. Not a good movie, but not bad. The Leonardo Da Vinci segment at the start was painful, and the direction was awful, but the story was interesting, and Bruce Willis is the man. I give it a 72 (+/- 3).

I saw a  bitchin’ video a month or-so back in which the lightcycle sequence from Tron had been sweded to excellent effect, and it made me want to see the film again. I love this movie. Great special effects, story and music. I give it a 95. One of the few movies that I could watch more than once (and I have… although probably not in 15 years).

Movie Watched 5/8/2008: Paranoid Park

On Thursday, I went and saw Paranoid Park at the Parkway Speakeasy.

This movie was a splendid film that is best to go into without any real knowledge of the premise; therefore, I give no real review. Excellent narrative format, interspersing the past and present tounravel the story in layers.

The movie gets a solid 85.