Tuesday, May 29, 2007

POTC - At World's End

This third installment of the pirates trilogy was fantastic! I loved every minute of this summer blockbuster! In fact, I dare say I liked it better than the second one, Dead Man's Chest. It has all your favorite characters back, and with that, some superb acting.

This film is a little edgier and darker than the previous two and is definitely not a kid's flick. But the film was fun and the action as exciting as a Disney ride. I didn't want it to stop. Even at the end, they set off on a new adventure and I was like, "Yes! Let's go. I'm on board for that!"

The only minor problems I had with the film was that is was a tad convoluted in the middle as they set the story up and I could not tell which was a side story and which was the main story. Secondly, Jack Sparrow has these moments where he converses with multiple other Jack Sparrows. That was a little over the top and didn't work well.

Some friends of mine suggested that they did this because the character didn't have as much screen time as in the past and so they were trying to compensate. But regardless the film still was awesome and I had a great time watching the crew, Geoffrey Rush, Bill Nighy, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and the lovely Keira Knightley go on one more adventure.

Oh, there was one other part I forgot to mention. I was very nervous when I heard that Keith Richards, whom Depp modeled Jack Sparrow after, was going to play his father. I was scared it would be silly and stupid and be a worthless part of a great movie. But the scene(s) were fabulous! They pulled it off famously and Keith Richards did a fine job of the part. I was very happy with it.

So hoist the sails, batten the hatches, and fire the cannons straight to the theater to check out Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End!! Savvy?

Saturday, May 19, 2007

28 Weeks Later...


Well it was a zombie movie! But these zombies are not the slow, moaning, and shuffling zombies you may be used to. These zombies are Olympic sprinters!! They run. They chase. They run some more and they beat on the glass until bloody. (That never gets old does it?)

As if running and hiding from raging zombies wasn't enough, you also have to dodge sniper bullets and out run napalm.

If you want a movie with blood and guts and killing, this is your film. The soldier/sniper that helps the kids escape the city was my favorite character. The film was interesting, but I didn't think it lived up to the original. If you can't wait till October for some zombie loving, then check out 28 weeks later!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Spiderman 3

Spiderman 3 is back in black! Three villains; Goblin, Sandman, Venom. Three times the fun? More like three times the tears! This movie has more crying in it than an episode of Little House on the Prairie! Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of action and I liked the movie overall, but be prepared for a couple of intertwining love stories that try and tug at the old heart strings.

Spiderman's super powers are enhanced when an alien symbiont binds with him creating a black copy of his suit. But it has side effects. Namely Peter becomes meaner and more aggressive. This film is long, 2 and half hours plus previews, because they run so many subplots. There was one scene they could have completely cut out. Parker takes a date, (not MJ) to a jazz club where MJ is working. He does this funky jazz dance all over the club. A weird scene to show how the black suit is effecting him. (Spiderman the musical!) I think it would have been a good "extra" to put on the DVD when it comes out.

JK Simmons is back as the brash Jonah Jameson, along with Ted Raimi for comic relief. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Ted is related to the director Sam Raimi. The special effects were decent as usual, but nothing jumped out at me as Amazing. Speaking of which, Stan Lee, the creator of your friendly neighborhood spidey, makes a cameo. Nuff said.

If you are a super hero fan, if you loved the first two spider movies, then you must see this blockbuster, just because. So swing over to your local theater and check it out!

Saturday, May 05, 2007

NEXT

Daja vu? Oh wait that is the Denzel Washington movie where he sees something really bad happen in the future and then tries to stop it. I didn't see that movie, so I can't really compare NEXT to that one. I had low expectations for this film so I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked it pretty well.

Nick Cage plays Chris Johnson, a.k.a Frank Cadillac a magician with a special talent. He can see about two minutes ahead in the future and then change it if he wants. Julie Anne Moore, plays FBI Agent Callie Ferris who has clued in to Johnson's special power.

Currently some sissy French terrorists have smuggled a nuke into the U.S. and want to set it off for kicks and jollys. The plot never really gets to deep into the terrorists motivations. (Where's Jack Bauer when ya need him?) Anyway it doesn't really matter why, we just want to see Johnson's parlor trick put into action.

Early on Chris finds that a certain female, Liz, played by Jessica Biel (yes folks the sexiest woman alive) can extend his future seeing powers by hours. So Chris chases Liz and Ferris chases Chris trying to get him to help stop the big bomb from going off. (Confused yet?)

Nick Cage is having a bit of a dry spell lately. Johnny Blaze didn't really set me on fire in Ghost Rider, now this character is a reluctant, washed up, loser who somehow charms the sexiest woman alive? (Why did I like this movie again? I forget.) And what was with that hair? He had dyed jet black hair and hair extensions. It was long and stringy and I suppose represented his strung out life? But at least when they give Bruce Willis hair, it looks real!

It was an interesting story and a neat idea for someone to be able to see a few minutes into the future. It was charming. But overall, save your popcorn money for Spiderman 3 and catch NEXT next time you see it on cable!