I go into movies just expecting to be entertained. If all you read before seeing a movie is the hype train that the studios push out then nine times out of ten you will be disappointed. This is the case with Wanted starring the flavor of the month John McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman.
Wanted begins with McAvoy's character Wesley talking about how shitty his life is. If you thought Mr. Anderson in the Matrix had it bad, then you will identify with Wesley's plight. He's pathetic and he knows it. His matrix is a dead in life at age 25. Unlike the lifeless Neo/Mr. Anderson however there is a dark and a sinister edge to Wesley's self loathing which is darkly humorous. As in all movies of this type he has a breakthrough (or breakdown whichever you prefer) after meeting with the person who wants to bring him out of his shitty life, which in this movie comes in the top heavy form of Angelina Jolie. Eventually he has enough of his craptacular life, tells his bitchy boss how he really feels about her, and starts his training with the ominously titled Fraternity. They are a group of assassins who perform killings in interesting and totally implausible ways. That's alright though, this movie is science fiction, not science fact.
The effects are well done, over the top yes, but still pretty good. Not that special effects are that difficult to accomplish these days what with computers and green screens. The action scenes are inventive and after which leave you sitting there saying, "hey, that was pretty damn cool!" The big gun fight at the end where Wesley decides he's had enough is slick stylized gun play at its best. Think the lobby scene in The Matrix only bloodier and more violent.
All in all, Wanted didn't disappoint me. It wasn't a dialog heavy turd like V for Vendetta, which is one of my all time most disappointing movies. Wanted balanced itself very well and it also will probably be in my dvd collection when it is no doubt released later this year.
-Twiz
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday WALL-E
It's movie review time!
First up is WALL-E, from Pixar studios. These guys know how to make a good animated family film. My taste in movies usually leans towards the dark and violent, but whenever I hear Pixar is coming out with a new one, I have to see it. This is the 9th movie by Pixar and this is the 9th Pixar movie that will (eventually) grace my dvd collection with it's presence.
The visuals are breathtaking. That isn't a fluff word that I am prone to just throw around either. The dingy and abandoned Earth that Wall-E starts out on is a masterpiece. The first part of the movie where the audience is treated to the everyday life of the little robot hero is enthralling. It's a view in hopelessness, but at the same time the way Wall-E goes about his job of cleaning up the mounds of garbage on an abandoned Earth is heartwarming. He has fun at work and you really get a feel for his personality. Later on when he travels into space, it gets even better. A dirty and dingy Wall-E running around a sterile space station leads to several highly amusing scenes. How the writers even came up with some of this stuff amazes me.
There are few times in my moving watching career that I have sat in the theater with my mouth agape, but this was one of those times. I never wanted the movie to end. It could have been 4 hours long and that would have been fine. I'm also a softy at heart and I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't get a little misty a few times during the movie.
Wall-E is the best of the Pixar movies to come out. Period. I'm not going to ruin any of the plot lines for the few of you who read this blog, but suffice it to say that paying to see this movie was a privilege.
-Twiz
First up is WALL-E, from Pixar studios. These guys know how to make a good animated family film. My taste in movies usually leans towards the dark and violent, but whenever I hear Pixar is coming out with a new one, I have to see it. This is the 9th movie by Pixar and this is the 9th Pixar movie that will (eventually) grace my dvd collection with it's presence.
The visuals are breathtaking. That isn't a fluff word that I am prone to just throw around either. The dingy and abandoned Earth that Wall-E starts out on is a masterpiece. The first part of the movie where the audience is treated to the everyday life of the little robot hero is enthralling. It's a view in hopelessness, but at the same time the way Wall-E goes about his job of cleaning up the mounds of garbage on an abandoned Earth is heartwarming. He has fun at work and you really get a feel for his personality. Later on when he travels into space, it gets even better. A dirty and dingy Wall-E running around a sterile space station leads to several highly amusing scenes. How the writers even came up with some of this stuff amazes me.
There are few times in my moving watching career that I have sat in the theater with my mouth agape, but this was one of those times. I never wanted the movie to end. It could have been 4 hours long and that would have been fine. I'm also a softy at heart and I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't get a little misty a few times during the movie.
Wall-E is the best of the Pixar movies to come out. Period. I'm not going to ruin any of the plot lines for the few of you who read this blog, but suffice it to say that paying to see this movie was a privilege.
-Twiz
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
It's Tuesday. I'm doing laundry. How exciting!
As you may have noticed, the blogs are getting few and far between. Well, there's a reason for that.
Summertime is here!
What this means is I'm not spending as much time in front of the computer, and spending lots more time chasing tail... Er, um, uh. I mean I'm spending lots more time at the country club sipping champagne and playing shuffleboard.
It promises to be an exciting summer though! Hopefully I can make it through it without getting into too much trouble. Ah, the most trouble I'll probably get into is the town cop telling me my grass is too high and that he's going to fine me if I don't mow it. Won't be the first time.
If anything memorable or blog worthy should happen I'll be sure to throw it up here. There are some situations unfolding around me that I really can't post here. My Mommy reads this blog and I would feel really bad if something I put here caused her mental anguish. Never let it be said that I don't care about the feelings of others!
-Twiz
Summertime is here!
What this means is I'm not spending as much time in front of the computer, and spending lots more time chasing tail... Er, um, uh. I mean I'm spending lots more time at the country club sipping champagne and playing shuffleboard.
It promises to be an exciting summer though! Hopefully I can make it through it without getting into too much trouble. Ah, the most trouble I'll probably get into is the town cop telling me my grass is too high and that he's going to fine me if I don't mow it. Won't be the first time.
If anything memorable or blog worthy should happen I'll be sure to throw it up here. There are some situations unfolding around me that I really can't post here. My Mommy reads this blog and I would feel really bad if something I put here caused her mental anguish. Never let it be said that I don't care about the feelings of others!
-Twiz
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Yeah he's older, but he's still awesome.
I did make it to see the 4th Indy movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Yes, parts of the plot were predictable, but these are some of my favorite movies, and I love them. There's Star Wars, then there's Indy! I'm a George Lucas fan boy, what can I say? The directing and cinematography are both top notch and as usual the musical score by John Williams makes the movie just drip with adventure.
I won't give away any spoilers or anything but suffice it to say that the first twenty minutes of this latest Indy movie were fantastic. Spielberg and Lucas are spot on with the way things were in the late 1950's (the movie was set in 1957). Nuclear testing, the "red scare", the greasers, the preps. If you grew up in the 1950's or enjoy history you will enjoy this movie.
Quite honestly, I was worried that this Indy was going to be nothing but a relentless string of "I'm too old for this shit" jokes. There is the one joke at the beginning and that's pretty much it. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a movie that will stand the test of time just as the previous Indiana Jones' movies have. I recommend it. Go spend your money.
I won't give away any spoilers or anything but suffice it to say that the first twenty minutes of this latest Indy movie were fantastic. Spielberg and Lucas are spot on with the way things were in the late 1950's (the movie was set in 1957). Nuclear testing, the "red scare", the greasers, the preps. If you grew up in the 1950's or enjoy history you will enjoy this movie.
Quite honestly, I was worried that this Indy was going to be nothing but a relentless string of "I'm too old for this shit" jokes. There is the one joke at the beginning and that's pretty much it. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a movie that will stand the test of time just as the previous Indiana Jones' movies have. I recommend it. Go spend your money.
It's June 1st. Here's a blog.
It seems like the only thing I can post about on here lately is the movies coming out that I want to see and/or I am looking forward too. I don't do a lot of exciting stuff, maybe that's why. I'll have to schedule a trip to the local titty bar & come back home and write up a review of the talent. While not exciting it would prove interesting at least.
My favorite comic book heroes growing up were #1 Spider Man #2 Wolverine and #3 The Punisher. The Spider-Man movies were good. Spider Man III let me down a bit, there were so many different directions they could have gone with the movie but didn't. The first two X-Men movies (featuring Wolverine) were really good. X-Men III let me down however. Ian McKellan really made those movies as the bad guy Magneto. Without him the 3rd X-Men wouldn't have even been watchable. The 2004 Punisher movie (starring Thomas Jane) wasn't awful, but I wouldn't classify it as good either. All I can say about it is that it was better than the 1989 movie of the same name. If the powers that be could have combined the dark brooding of the 89 version with the production values of the 04 version we'd have had a good movie.
That being said, eleven months from today will see the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Seeing as this movie will probably be one of the "tent pole" released of 2009 and a potential blockbuster, it is almost assuredly going to receive a PG-13 rating. I'd prefer an R rating as Wolverine's world before he got hooked up with the X-Men was a violent and dark. I'm a sucker for those types of movies. Maybe I'm just an unrefined Neanderthal too. Jury is still out on that one.
Hugh Jackman is reprising his role as Logan aka Wolverine which is a good thing in my opinion. He did a fine job in portraying the character in the X-Men movies, and quite honestly I can't think of anyone else I'd rather cast in the lead role.
There is a worry however. In today's cinema and in particular the "big" movies that the studios release, they tend to come out with special effect laden horse shit. For reference see the 2003 dud, Hulk. So much potential thrown away. Weird camera angles, bad eyebrows, and craptacular acting by Eric Bana doomed this one. All the green screen and CGI in the world could not make this movie good. This is my worry for Wolverine. Hopefully Hollywood has learned it's lesson and doesn't jazz it up too much.
We can hope
-Twiz
My favorite comic book heroes growing up were #1 Spider Man #2 Wolverine and #3 The Punisher. The Spider-Man movies were good. Spider Man III let me down a bit, there were so many different directions they could have gone with the movie but didn't. The first two X-Men movies (featuring Wolverine) were really good. X-Men III let me down however. Ian McKellan really made those movies as the bad guy Magneto. Without him the 3rd X-Men wouldn't have even been watchable. The 2004 Punisher movie (starring Thomas Jane) wasn't awful, but I wouldn't classify it as good either. All I can say about it is that it was better than the 1989 movie of the same name. If the powers that be could have combined the dark brooding of the 89 version with the production values of the 04 version we'd have had a good movie.
That being said, eleven months from today will see the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Seeing as this movie will probably be one of the "tent pole" released of 2009 and a potential blockbuster, it is almost assuredly going to receive a PG-13 rating. I'd prefer an R rating as Wolverine's world before he got hooked up with the X-Men was a violent and dark. I'm a sucker for those types of movies. Maybe I'm just an unrefined Neanderthal too. Jury is still out on that one.
Hugh Jackman is reprising his role as Logan aka Wolverine which is a good thing in my opinion. He did a fine job in portraying the character in the X-Men movies, and quite honestly I can't think of anyone else I'd rather cast in the lead role.
There is a worry however. In today's cinema and in particular the "big" movies that the studios release, they tend to come out with special effect laden horse shit. For reference see the 2003 dud, Hulk. So much potential thrown away. Weird camera angles, bad eyebrows, and craptacular acting by Eric Bana doomed this one. All the green screen and CGI in the world could not make this movie good. This is my worry for Wolverine. Hopefully Hollywood has learned it's lesson and doesn't jazz it up too much.
We can hope
-Twiz
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