Huh, thanks for the review. I guess that's two Big Nothing's for Simon Pegg now. I hope the third time is a charm and recaptures some of Shaun's magic.
Spiderman 3 (as mentioned elsewhere) and 28 Weeks Later this weekend. I thought 28 Weeks was great, but I preferred the prequel (28 Days Later).
I just thought 28 Weeks was less suspenseful because everyone knew what they were dealing with going into it. Still a pretty scary flick, though.
I saw 28 Weeks Later yesterday.
Though it wasn't as suspenseful as 28 Days Later, naturally, I thought it was pretty good.
I really dislike the Nausea-Cam shooting style, though. I know it's supposed to simulate the fear and confusion the people feel as they're under attack, but after the first 10 seconds or so I felt myself wishing they'd cut it out already!
Though some people in the movie made some choices that were, in retrospect, spectacularly wrong, I liked the fact that they portrayed the people as being, for the most part, professional and intelligent. Bad things happened not because of stupid plot contrivances or because the main characters were drooling idiots, but in spite of the characters' best efforts.
Of course, the central irony of the story is that the virus wound up getting to the European mainland -- which, for practical purposes, doubtless means the end of civilization and most of the human race -- precisely because the Medical Officer was trying to preserve the boy and girl, in the hope that their blood would allow the development of a cure.
(Incidentally, it's hardly likely that eye color is related in any way to possession of genes for viral resistance.)
The hardest premise to swallow is the initial one. Given how devastating and contagious the virus was, and given that it might easily still be surviving in non-human animals that were acting as reservoirs, I couldn't believe they were planning to repopulate the British Isles. Certainly, not so quickly, anyway. Under those circumstances, I'd imagine it'd be at least a full year before they'd allow anyone to set foot on British soil without full biohazard gear. And then, only after there had been a very thorough testing of the local wildlife.
Keeping the repatriates in a "Clean Zone" was a good idea, but there's no way the kids -- much less their mother -- should have been allowed back into the Clean Zone without zealous decontamination and isolation procedures. Especially after they found out the mother was a carrier. There should have been lots of armed guards around her isolation chamber with strict orders to shoot anyone who tried to get in without full biohazard gear.
I saw Hot Fuzz last weekend, by the same people who did Shaun of the Dead. I thought it was pretty good. Not so outright funny as was Shaun of the Dead, but quite enjoyable nonetheless. After the slow buildup, the last 30 minutes or so have to be seen to be believed. [Note: There are a few scenes that are pretty graphic and perhaps not for the faint of heart.]
Cheers,
Michael
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
A virus that takes about 10 seconds to get into your cells and cause that many physiological and behavioral changes? Not in the least feasible. Also, a virus that caused its victims to spew that much blood and other bodily fluids would surely kill them PDQ -- you wouldn't have to wait for the zombies to starve to death.
Still, an interesting and pretty well-made pair of movies.
Cheers,
Michael
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
I think I watched less than half of The Queen before I found out that V for Vendetta was playing on HBO, at which point I switched. I have no idea why the former received so much critical acclaim. I'd rather watch water boil.
I have not seen it recently, but with all the fighting in Gaza and in Lebanon (and of course Iraq) I keep thinking of No Man's Land, a Bosnian movie from 2001. It is funny at times but it does give a sense of hopelessness to being able to solve wars like these. All the characters are unsympathetic (except maybe the idealistic UN commander in the field). The Bosnians and the Serb are fanatics, the UN higher-ups are indecisive or are trying to save face, the press is only looking for stories that sell and the idealistic UN commander is ultimately powerless (though he plays the press to his advantage). In the end the locals still destroy each other and themselves. Very good movie but a bit depressing.
Oh yeah, the language problems in the UN are pretty funny
Saw Fantastic Four yesterday, it was campy. Good plot but poorly acted. Alba doesn't look hot at all in the movie, which made it stink all the more.
Going to see Transformers on the 4th. Also want to see The Invasion, and War. I bet War is going to be awesome.
__________________ Of Courtesy, it is much less than Courage of Heart or Holiness. Yet in my walks it seems to me that the Grace of God is in Courtesy.
I saw Fantastic Four II a week or so ago. It wasn't all that, but it was a big improvement over the first one -- not that this is saying very much. The actors seemed a lot more comfortable in their roles this time around than they did the first time.
Jessica Alba still can't act, but, in fairness, she was a lot better than in the first one. In that, she "acted" like she was in a high school play or something.
And, you know, I appreciate a story in which people are gifted with great powers and instead of everyone envying or mistrusting them, people accept them -- and instead of the "heroes" spending all their time whining about how they don't "fit in" and how they're "alone," their first instinct is to use their gifts to help people. I get tired of movies in which the "heroes" are either psychological basket cases or complete jerks, and/or spend their time whining about how having these special powers really sucks and nobody loves them.
The ending did kind of bug me, though. If the Silver Surfer was really as upset as he claimed about having to be the agent of destruction of entire planets, and if he had the power to destroy Galactus all along, why the heck didn't he do it sooner?
***
Ratatouille was quite entertaining. Like your standard Pixar movie, it had a great story with well-drawn characters. Of course there were misunderstandings; Remy's family didn't understand why he wanted to associate with humans and learn to cook, but even so, it was clear that they loved him, and they didn't ostracize him for his strange behavior.
The movie had a message, of course, but they didn't beat you over the head with it. In the end, everyone got what was coming to him or her, but not in the way that you expected.
More than most of Pixar's other movies, this one is aimed squarely at adults, it seems to me. Oh, there's enough action and physical humor to keep older kids interested, but it's a very story- and character-driven movie, and would probably bore younger kids.
Cheers,
Michael
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
And, you know, I appreciate a story in which people are gifted with great powers and instead of everyone envying or mistrusting them, people accept them -- and instead of the "heroes" spending all their time whining about how they don't "fit in" and how they're "alone," their first instinct is to use their gifts to help people. I get tired of movies in which the "heroes" are either psychological basket cases or complete jerks, and/or spend their time whining about how having these special powers really sucks and nobody loves them.
Except ...
... in this movie the Invisible Woman (Alba) spends all her time bitching that they're so popular that they won't ever have a normal life. And the ending ... Mother of God! That ending was so incredibly dumb ... "We're a team! Yay!" Campy, campy and campy.
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The ending did kind of bug me, though. If the Silver Surfer was really as upset as he claimed about having to be the agent of destruction of entire planets, and if he had the power to destroy Galactus all along, why the heck didn't he do it sooner?
I think the intent was, as badly acted out as it was, that the Silver Surfer was moved by FF's desire to save their planet ... and that he has a xeno-crush on Alba. He didn't do it sooner, because as he said, he made a deal to seek new worlds for Galactus to spare his own planet and the life of his love. The question is ... did he know he would survive? If not, killing Galactus to save your lover with the hope that you could see her again ... and killing yourself in the process isn't a very good thing to attempt.
I don't know. With movies like this, when there is a huge hole in the plot, I don't bother asking why, or getting frustrated ... fixing one hole wouldn't actually redeem the movie.
__________________ Of Courtesy, it is much less than Courage of Heart or Holiness. Yet in my walks it seems to me that the Grace of God is in Courtesy.
I didn't really pay any mind to the lack of Alba-objectification, but I did notice that the Silver Surfer just had a silver bulge in spite of his nudity.
Ok, well, surely you can at least remember that there's a scene where Alba's clothes get burned off and she's lying naked on the sidewalk.
Yes, FF would have been a much better movie, if not for the end.
And yeah, I'll readily grant you that being the center of so much attention would suck, but why on Earth was Sue Storm so convinced that just because they were celebrities they couldn't have a family? That whole subplot felt dreadfully contrived.
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Originally Posted by erimir
Ok, well, surely you can at least remember that there's a scene where Alba's clothes get burned off and she's lying naked on the sidewalk.
"Why does this always happen to me?"
In the comics, Sue Storm-Richards is a genius married to a supergenius. Somehow, poor Jessica Alba doesn't quite manage to convince me that she's a world-class intellect.
Cheers,
Michael
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
And yeah, I'll readily grant you that being the center of so much attention would suck, but why on Earth was Sue Storm so convinced that just because they were celebrities they couldn't have a family? That whole subplot felt dreadfully contrived.
Yep, it was. I don't know if they were trying to flesh out the characters or not, because there will be a FF #3 eventually, but it failed. Miserably.
Quote:
"Why does this always happen to me?"
In the comics, Sue Storm-Richards is a genius married to a supergenius. Somehow, poor Jessica Alba doesn't quite manage to convince me that she's a world-class intellect.
It's because they were going for laughs, and failed. They did stray a bit more from the comic IMO, than they have for other movies ... and this was one of the things they strayed from.
Though, I must admit ... I like their depiction of Galactus a bit more than how he is drawn in the comics.
__________________ Of Courtesy, it is much less than Courage of Heart or Holiness. Yet in my walks it seems to me that the Grace of God is in Courtesy.
For the first time in a while, it seems like I've been seeing plenty of very good movies. Little Miss Sunshine was one I saw several months back, but I really loved it! In the past 4 months I've also seen V For Vendetta and Stranger Than Fiction....I loved both. More recently:
-Last King of Scotland (Forest Whitaker was absolutely amazing in it)
-Children of Men
-Pan's Labyrinth (then watched his other, earlier movie, Devil's Backbone, which was also really good and I highly recommend)
- Maybe this doesn't count as recent since the movie is not at all new, but I watched Grave of Fireflies about a month ago and it made me cry. Cartoon or not, it was so goddamn sad (and well-made).
Next up on my Netflix cue is Notes From a Scandal. I've read several good reviews on it, and heard the acting was wonderful, so I'm looking forward to it.
This probably doesn't count as a "good" movie but I finally saw Plan 9 From Outer Space this weekend. (The movie "almost starring Bela Lugosi.") My experience was helped along by listening to Michael J. Nelson's RiffTrax mp3 while I watched.
I saw "Waitress" recently. The writer/director/supporting star Adrienne Shelly was murdered after the completion of the film, apparently by a construction worker to whom she complained about noise. He beat her to death, and then hanged her inside of her shower to make it look like suicide. The movie has received good reviews, but I was dubious because I figured they were homages to the dead. However, the movie was very good, in a quirky way. None of the characters were realistic – they were all humorous stereotypes, but some were quite funny.
I also saw “Hot Fuzz”, which is a British take-off on cop films, made by the director and star who made “Shaun of the Dead”. It was OK (at best).
Then I went to a Danish movie called (in English) “After the Wedding”. It’s a contrived melodrama, but the characters are interesting and well played. It’s about a serious do-gooder who runs an orphanage in India. He has to go back to Denmark to raise money for his orphanage. But the rich guy who may donate the money has his own agenda, which only becomes clear as the movie progresses.
__________________
"It's lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened."
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Though, I must admit ... I like their depiction of Galactus a bit more than how he is drawn in the comics.
Yeah, Galactus as depicted in the comics would have looked really stupid on the movie screen.
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Originally Posted by Zadalya
- Maybe this doesn't count as recent since the movie is not at all new, but I watched Grave of Fireflies about a month ago and it made me cry. Cartoon or not, it was so goddamn sad (and well-made).
If Grave of the Fireflies doesn't make you cry, nothing will.
Cheers,
Michael
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”