(2011, Scott Charles Stewart)
Priest is a surprisingly fun retro future take on the vampire vs man concept. Starring Paul Bettany as a fallen warrior priest who must defy the church-state in order to save his daughter from the vampire menace, this film features some great sets and locations and some really solid action set pieces. The 3D added little to the experience. It's got a cameo from Madchen Amick of Twin Peaks fame and she is still hot! Also Brad Dourif is here in a brief cameo and the very capable Karl Urban is great as the classic Black Hat bad guy and Christopher Plummer is here as the head of the Church! This film is really styled as a western and that is a daring idea these days. It also features one of my favorites, Maggie Q, who adds some double punchy/sexiness to the film. This film is based on a korean manhwa that is more about a heavenly war on earth versus demonic forces than a vampire tale. I liked this movie-- it could have been totally dumb and it wasn't. (6/7)
Trailer
Monday, May 23, 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
(2011, Rob Marshall)
Rob Marshall taking over for Gore Verbinski leaves something to be desired. The cast is decent: Stephen Graham is fun to see, and Keith Richards just looks so cool as a pirate, Ian McShane is a god and is surprisingly under utilized in this film. The whole fountain of youth device is actually decently thought out and I personally loved the actions of the Spanish in the film (seemed believable). Penelope Cruz wasn't too annoying and Johnny Depp is iconic and Geoffrey Rush is a real pirate. Newcomer Astrid Berges-Frisby was appropriately innocent and sexy as the mermaid in distress. Overall the film was thin in its execution and while the 3D was good the movie was just not quite up to the level of the other films. (5/7)
Trailer
Rob Marshall taking over for Gore Verbinski leaves something to be desired. The cast is decent: Stephen Graham is fun to see, and Keith Richards just looks so cool as a pirate, Ian McShane is a god and is surprisingly under utilized in this film. The whole fountain of youth device is actually decently thought out and I personally loved the actions of the Spanish in the film (seemed believable). Penelope Cruz wasn't too annoying and Johnny Depp is iconic and Geoffrey Rush is a real pirate. Newcomer Astrid Berges-Frisby was appropriately innocent and sexy as the mermaid in distress. Overall the film was thin in its execution and while the 3D was good the movie was just not quite up to the level of the other films. (5/7)
Trailer
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
(Hosoda Mamoru, 2006)
This is a pretty interesting time travel movie. Similar in some regards to Shane Carruth's Primer in that it focuses on short jumps into the past and the cascade effects which can result-- it is really a more interesting take on teen romance and relationships. I liked it! Double Punchy and it had some pretty nice, contemplative animation. Good characterization and character design. The Art Director was the art director on Princess Mononoke. If you like anime: this is solid work. (6/7)
The DVD gets a lesser review-- my viewing copy had subtitle issues and I was forced to watch the film in English which left something to be desired but is still well acted and is actually pretty faithful to the "essence" of Japanese dialogue. It has a good feature commentary with the principal actors and the director which is worth checking out.
Trailer
(Hosoda Mamoru, 2006)
This is a pretty interesting time travel movie. Similar in some regards to Shane Carruth's Primer in that it focuses on short jumps into the past and the cascade effects which can result-- it is really a more interesting take on teen romance and relationships. I liked it! Double Punchy and it had some pretty nice, contemplative animation. Good characterization and character design. The Art Director was the art director on Princess Mononoke. If you like anime: this is solid work. (6/7)
The DVD gets a lesser review-- my viewing copy had subtitle issues and I was forced to watch the film in English which left something to be desired but is still well acted and is actually pretty faithful to the "essence" of Japanese dialogue. It has a good feature commentary with the principal actors and the director which is worth checking out.
Trailer
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Thor
Thor
(2011, Kenneth Branagh)
Thor was surprisingly fun. A bit CGish in spots but it had a nice ensemble cast featuring some of my favorites: Tadanobu Asano; Ray Stevenson; Natalie Portman; Idris Elba; the ubiquitous Stellan Skarsgard. Tom Hiddleston played a believable Loki to Chris Hemsworth's Thor and the whole thing felt like it paid honest homage to the best Thor comics by Walt Simonson. Good humor too and it felt like Marvel really is trying to unite the look and feel of it's recent efforts into a cohesive universe. Colm Feore should be acknowledged as one of the greatest bad-guy actors of all time. (6/7)
Trailer
(2011, Kenneth Branagh)
Thor was surprisingly fun. A bit CGish in spots but it had a nice ensemble cast featuring some of my favorites: Tadanobu Asano; Ray Stevenson; Natalie Portman; Idris Elba; the ubiquitous Stellan Skarsgard. Tom Hiddleston played a believable Loki to Chris Hemsworth's Thor and the whole thing felt like it paid honest homage to the best Thor comics by Walt Simonson. Good humor too and it felt like Marvel really is trying to unite the look and feel of it's recent efforts into a cohesive universe. Colm Feore should be acknowledged as one of the greatest bad-guy actors of all time. (6/7)
Trailer
Monday, May 2, 2011
Paris, je t'aime
(Various, 2006)
In short this movie by 22 directors which takes place in Paris is really good. There are sexy vampires, touching and tragic love stories, fun, satire, whimsy, intelligence. Watch it. (7/7)
Trailer
In short this movie by 22 directors which takes place in Paris is really good. There are sexy vampires, touching and tragic love stories, fun, satire, whimsy, intelligence. Watch it. (7/7)
Trailer
Friday, April 22, 2011
This Week
A Serious Man
(The Coen Brothers, 2009)
An interesting look at a 1960's American life through the experiences of a Jewish Physics professor and his family. Quirky and mystical at times this is a different kind of film for the Coens. One word: Jefferson-Airplane, oh whatever-- see it. (6/7)
Trailer
(The Coen Brothers, 2009)
An interesting look at a 1960's American life through the experiences of a Jewish Physics professor and his family. Quirky and mystical at times this is a different kind of film for the Coens. One word: Jefferson-Airplane, oh whatever-- see it. (6/7)
Trailer
Saturday, April 2, 2011
This Week
Rango
(Gore Verbinski, 2011)
Jed: Rango is a triumph. Gore Verbinski and the ILM team with Crash McCreery leading the way did an excellent job. The cast is first rate with wonderful performances by Johnny Deep, Bill Nighy, Isla Fisher, Alfred Molina, Ned Beatty and Abigail Breslin. Ray Winstone, Claudia Black, Harry Dean Stanton-- it's a solid cast! Music by Los Lobos and Hans Zimmer is wonderful compliment to an irreverent and almost psychedelic tale of a captive chameleon who reinvents himself to become savior and hero to an old west town on the edge of modernity as the town triumphs over the selfish actions of evildoers. Some stunning animation and an appearance by Timothy Olyphant doing what might be one of the best Clint Eastwood impersonations ever. This was double-punchy goodness and is worth checking out. Far better than I expected! 6/7
Trailer
Suckerpunch
(Zack Snyder, 2011)
Man Zack Snyder why do you always manage to take a good idea, or a great idea even, and so totally blow it? Why? So what would, or could have been, an epic, sexy, violent, double-punch tale of nerd fantasies made real-ish, with a solid cast-- full of potential-- instead is a bland, barely sexy tease, with a misplaced, anachronistic soundtrack, cliche Synderisms (slo-mo, etc.) a thin plot and even thinner story. The acting is fair but irrelevant because the story is so poorly realized. The basic premises are fundamentally weak and the lines are often hilarious at times. The physical action is good and all the females leads are visually engaging, the set design and machinery, costumes, etc. are all pretty cool-- and the fantasy scenes try to do something fun. It all adds up to total fail. Maybe Emily Browning will go on to be an action star-- I hope so-- and I hope she never works with ole ZS again! This is a hard 5/7 for me because it should have been rated "R," it should have had nudity, and someone who can actually write should have written it. Sad. . . this movie could have been great! I'm guessing this is the director's cut? 5/7 (maybe 6/7 for a few seconds of action here and there). Oh, Scott Glenn. . . what happened?
Trailer
(Gore Verbinski, 2011)
Jed: Rango is a triumph. Gore Verbinski and the ILM team with Crash McCreery leading the way did an excellent job. The cast is first rate with wonderful performances by Johnny Deep, Bill Nighy, Isla Fisher, Alfred Molina, Ned Beatty and Abigail Breslin. Ray Winstone, Claudia Black, Harry Dean Stanton-- it's a solid cast! Music by Los Lobos and Hans Zimmer is wonderful compliment to an irreverent and almost psychedelic tale of a captive chameleon who reinvents himself to become savior and hero to an old west town on the edge of modernity as the town triumphs over the selfish actions of evildoers. Some stunning animation and an appearance by Timothy Olyphant doing what might be one of the best Clint Eastwood impersonations ever. This was double-punchy goodness and is worth checking out. Far better than I expected! 6/7
Trailer
Suckerpunch
(Zack Snyder, 2011)
Man Zack Snyder why do you always manage to take a good idea, or a great idea even, and so totally blow it? Why? So what would, or could have been, an epic, sexy, violent, double-punch tale of nerd fantasies made real-ish, with a solid cast-- full of potential-- instead is a bland, barely sexy tease, with a misplaced, anachronistic soundtrack, cliche Synderisms (slo-mo, etc.) a thin plot and even thinner story. The acting is fair but irrelevant because the story is so poorly realized. The basic premises are fundamentally weak and the lines are often hilarious at times. The physical action is good and all the females leads are visually engaging, the set design and machinery, costumes, etc. are all pretty cool-- and the fantasy scenes try to do something fun. It all adds up to total fail. Maybe Emily Browning will go on to be an action star-- I hope so-- and I hope she never works with ole ZS again! This is a hard 5/7 for me because it should have been rated "R," it should have had nudity, and someone who can actually write should have written it. Sad. . . this movie could have been great! I'm guessing this is the director's cut? 5/7 (maybe 6/7 for a few seconds of action here and there). Oh, Scott Glenn. . . what happened?
Trailer
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