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We will have to see how many I can get up here in a short period of time. But I figured that I should start reviewing some movies that I have seen before I get into the swing of work.

Superbad

This I thought was a great film. I don't know how they did it, but they managed to make an extremely crass and vulgar film feel like it had a heart. With the amount of sex jokes and swearing in the film, it seems like a film that one should leave from feeling dirty, but it one leaves with more of a content but slightly sad feel to it.

This film is a "touching" story about two friends who are trying to have one last stand in high school. Jonah Hill and Micheal Cera play these two friends whose personalities clash as they both attempt to attain the same goal. Their story is intertwined with the character of Foggle, a hapless idiot who somehow is more then that.

Micheal Cera and Jonah Hill do a great job with the interplay between their two characters. They play off of each other amazingly and not just for the lines that a humorous, but also for the heart felt lines.

Foggle does an amazing job providing the majority of the extremely funny humor. The two cops and him have many good and awkward conversations about all different aspects of life, and they have many crazy times together.

The one knock that I have heard, and that I have to agree with, sort of, is that the female characters aren't strongly developed as the male characters. However, I feel like this isn't a terrible thing as that would have possibly added too many characters that they try and develop into meaningful characters and if they didn't develop the male characters as well, it would have been much worse. One of the great things about the girls, thought, is that all three main girls in the film have the same color hair. Don't know what to read into that, but I found it interesting.

Grade Overall: A
Acting: A+
Story: A
Visuals/Sound: B

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Finding Neverland

I might be slightly biased in my opinion of this film, but I would say that this is one of the best recent films that has been put out. The main criticism that I have heard about this film is how Barrie "cheats" on his wife, but I tend to find that view of the film extremely misguided as to what is actually happening in this film.

Just a brief synopsis of what is going on in this film, this film is about J.M. Barrie the author of Peter Pan, and his creation of that story. That is the very broad general gist of what is going on in this film.

His creating Peter Pan, however, is really just a cover up for the main point of the film, and really the main point of his creating Peter Pan, the idea of imagination. This film drifts between reality and what is seen through the eyes of Barrie and the four Davies boys.

The idea of imagination is played with in the idea of childlike imagination and how that disappears when one grows up. Do to unfortunate circumstances the Davies boys have had to grow up faster then they should, and in some ways Barrie never has grown up.

I tend to find this film almost inspirational to those people are in areas where creativity is needed. It allows the viewer to become a child again with the Davies boys, and shows through Barrie how creativity and imagination are not something that has to be given up as the "artist" grows older and matures.

Grade Overall: A+
Acting: B+
Story: A
Visuals/Sound: A-

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Primer

This is the nerds sci-fi movie, if there ever was one. It delves into the implications of time travel at a whole deeper level and ends up in one fairly confusing mess.

Primer is a low budget film done without any known actors, but it works out very well both visually and in the acting. There are some parts where it looks lower budget, but for the most part it is good. One thing that I do like about this fact, the fact it is low budget, is that they don't have this grand highly polished time machine. The time machines basically look like they were thrown together with supplies that could be found out of a hardware store.

This notion gives the film a whole lot more natural, real feel to it. I think that this is what makes the film good with its low budget, amongst other things. This sci-fi type of story is set in the present, in reality, and isn't this amazing romp across the universe like so many sci-fi films are, and with the budget they couldn't have made it like that.

This is a film that I highly recommend to those people who enjoy a thinking film. Yes, there is a little action at a couple of points, but by that point in time if you aren't willing to think through the film, you are going to be so lost that it doesn't matter.

Overall Grade: A
Acting: B
Story: A+
Visual/Audio: B

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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Now, while this is one of my favorite films, like Primer and Finding Neverland, I do freely admit that this film isn't a classic film that people will remember for ever.

What is great about this film though is that it is purely entertainment. This film is basically a sci-fi film from the 40's or 50's made in the 2000's. The robots and ideas in the film are absurd, but it is one of those films that when you want to be entertained it is good to see, just grab a bowl of popcorn and watch it.

Another interesting thing about this film is that it was one of the originals where it was done totally in CGI. The actors were blue screened and then stylized to give it the older feel. And all of the props, robots, everything, was CGI.

This film was made during Jude Law's run of 1000 films, or so it seemed, but he does a good job in this film. It isn't an overly amazing performance by anyone in the cast, but the performances fit the style of the film.

The one thing that I must stress about this film, for those who want to watch it, is that this film, while CGI and containing robots is about as realistic and fantastic to watch as the era that it is based on. So don't expect to see anything like the new Star Wars films, or CGI like in the movie 300, but this film does have its own aspects that sets it apart in its different style.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B-
Story: B
Visual/Audio: A-

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Love Actually

I think this is the only romantic comedy ever that I have heard of more guys liking then girls. This might have to do with a couple of body double scenes that girls find a little bit more uncomfortable then guys, but I can't say for sure.

What makes this film good is the intertwining of story lines, while very unbelievable that all the characters would be connected like they are, it make the story much more interesting. And it works very well as they don't try and force the stories together, but instead let them work their way slowly to the point where everything becomes intertwined. Another thing that they do with the multiple story lines is that when the intertwine, they still remain a separate story line, they don't call become one larger story line.

This film is basically known for its cast. The vast majority of well known British actors and actresses are in the film, and this makes it entertaining to watch as the various actors and actresses portray their characters. There aren't any characters that really are done amazingly well, but all of the performances are solid, and with the number of "lead" characters, that is very important to making this a good film.

For those who haven't seen it, this film falls into a similar category as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, this isn't a great film, it won't be remembered as changing the way film makers thought, but it is a very well constructed film that is very entertaining to watch. Also, this film, if it had been more widely watched would have had several quotes out of it.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: B
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B-

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Serenity

This is one of those larger scale sci-fi movies that puts a lot of money into its ships and complex space battles. Unlike some of this area of the genre, it actually does have a lot of character development.

Serenity is based off of a short lived, and now cult classic, television show that was on Fox called Firefly. The idea with the show that earth has been abandonned because it couldn't support human life anymore and various planets, not ever specified as to where, have been used for in habitation. There is a central government agency that controls everything and everyone. The crew of Serenity are a group of outcasts or rebels.

The TV show is based around Serenity trying to flee the government because of one of the passengers that they have on their ship was broken out of a government facility. I won't go any further then that because the movie is made in such a way that it does stand alone from the TV show, but having seen the show does help with the understanding of the characters.

Like I said, what makes this film strong is the development of the characters, and the interplay between the characters. One nice thing about this being from a TV show is that you can tell right away that the actors and actresses are extremely comfortable with eachother, therefore it is less like acting and more natural in what they do and how they interact with eachother.

Another nice thing about this film is how it delves into this idea of goverment's controlling their people, which has been a popular idea in literature and films for a long time, but Serenity does a good job with this idea, especially with the primary bad guy. The primary "bad guy" is not as you would expect, more a philosophical man then a crazed killing machine, or so it seems.

If you have watched the TV show at all, then this is a must see. It is true to the TV show and the characters in the TV, and really shakes things up interestingly in the movie. I would highly recommend it to those people who enjoy a well done film as well. Like some of the others that I have reviewed, it isn't a film that is going to change the way that stories or visuals are looked at, but it blends all the elements together extremely well.

Overall Grade: A
Acting: B+
Story: A-
Visuals/Audio: B

When you watch it, make sure that after the fact you watch the outtakes, this film has outtakes that blow away any other outtakes, ever.

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Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

This is one of several films that has come out recently that has done a wonderful job in the area of satire. It is a film directed by Shane Black, who screen wrote the Lethal Weapon movies, that makes fun of this type of film.

This film does a wonderful job weaving through a bunch of obvious, intentionally, plot twists, like a movie in its genre. But this film brings in more sarcastic humor and wit then typically found in these films, hence being a satire.

What works really nicely in this film is Robert Downy Jr.'s voice over and narration. Much of the comedy comes from how unscripted this sounds and how it meanders at times through the story and he goes off on tangents.

This is one of a few films where both Downy Jr. and Kilmer do extremely good jobs playing their roles. Downy Jr. does a wonderful job of acting fairly clueless, and Kilmer does a great job playing a detective, I won't comment more on Kilmer's role, but if you don't know more about it, it is pretty funny.

Kilmer also does a little narration at the end, which ends up the movie and sums it very nicely, and humorously.

This movie is a popcorn flick, like many others that I have reviewed. It doesn't provide much more then a lot of great humor and action.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: A-
Story: B
Visual/Audio: B-

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Good work Gnat.

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Thanks for the props.

Spiderman Three

I have mixed feelings about this film, I felt like there were some serious flaws with it, but it was a Spiderman film, therefore I feel like I should like it. Overall, I felt like it was an entertaining film, but that the attempts at depth in the film weren't scripted well.

First thing I will address is everyones favorite walking down the street and dance scene. I had less of a problem with those scenes then most people did for the reason that they were meant to make a person feel akward, and I don't think that anyone is going to deny that those were about the most akward scenes to watch, ever. So, while it isn't a scene that I like, I can't complain about it was much, because I feel like it did what it was supposed to.

This film's biggest problem I felt was its pacing. There were three separate story lines in the film, and they didn't flow together like they should have. Each story line was started and brought up to a point, and instead of continuing those story lines while the other ones were brought up to speed, the story line was dropped. It wasn't until they had brought up all three story lines and developed them by themselves that they attempted to bring them together. This didn't work at all in the film.

What did work in the film though was the action, when you can do a a lot with CGI, it helps out a lot. I also feel like the Harry and Peter story line was well constructed on its own, and that they probably could have made two films, one with Venom and one with Harry and the Sandman and done just as good a job.

Overall, this film is again a popcorn flick. It didn't do anything that the first one did in defining the genre of superhero movies, and it didn't build upon that genre like the second one did.

Overall Grade: B-
Acting: B
Story: C-
Visual/Audio: B+

Spiderman Two

I figure that I might as well do all the Spiderman movies right now. This is my personal favorite of the Spiderman movies as I feel like it develops a lot for the third movie as well as develops the characters in the movie more-so then the first one did.

In particular this film develops the akward relationship that is occuring between Harry and Peter. There is the obvious hate for Spiderman, and it is difficult for Peter for two reasons, one he takes pictures of Spiderman and two because he is Spiderman and Harry cannot know.

This film also plays on Peter's life in a realistic way, or as realistic as can be expected from a superhero, in it deals not with some super natural force changing Peter, e.g. the blacksuit, but it deals with his struggles in life figuring out who exactly he is. He is looking to balance his life between being that superhero and being a real person. And he struggles with letting just the superhero aspect of his life take over, which drives him away from the people that he cares about.

Also in this film I felt there was the strongest bad guy. In the third one, the bad guys weren't developed enough, and in the first one, I feel like they really wanted to stress a typical Spiderman villain. Doc Ock was an interesting bad guy in that at no point in time was there the feeling that he was purely evil, but often the feeling that he was strongly misguided in his motivations.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: B
Story: A-
Visual/Audio: B+

Spiderman

This is the film that it has been the longest since I have seen it, so my review is going to be a little rough around the edges.

The big thing with this movie is that it was clearly made for the comic book and cartoon fans, sticking closely to the plot lines and back story that were developed in both of those. Even the bad guy is one of the most often appearing bad guys in the comic book or cartoon show.

What this film did was create a superhero film that followed closely to the line of the comic book and cartoon, but it also added that sense of realism. In a typical comic book or cartoon the superhero(es) never kill off a bad character and his/her henchmen, they just beat them up and leave them to the police. Spiderman did kill off the Green Goblin in the cartoon, but most of the over villains survived. I think that by killing off the villain they started off the franchise by making it realistic by having the villain get killed and then by having Peter's uncle get killed in real time.

What I mean by "in real time" is that in the comic book and cartoon, they only mention it or show it in flashbacks, there wasn't an episode where Peter watched his uncle die, without the flashback.

Overall, I feel like this film did a lot for the superhero genre. I feel like it was one of the first in this era of film that helped set a base for what superhero films could be. I feel like films like Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, Hulk, etc. have taken from this base and developed their own feel, but Spiderman helped determine how the genre was going to be.

Overall Grade: B+/A-
Acting: B
Story: B
Visual/Audio: A-

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Havoc

I found this film to be fairly interesting. The subject matter, rich kids and gangs and rich kids wanting to be a gang, isn't something that really excites me all that much, but this film did a good job of portraying it.

What I liked about this film was the fact that they were willing to clearly show the lines between the rich kids and the slums so to speak. It did a very good job of showing that there wasn't a crossover between the slums and the rich neighborhoods. The poor people weren't allowed into the gated communtities.

I thought for the most part that it did a good job of portraying how the rich kids were willing to get close to acting like a gang, they were willing to push the envelope because they thought it was cool. But they were living in a very fake "gang" world and they had no real idea as to what that world was like.

When the two main character, played by Bijou Philips and Anne Hathaway, go into the slums they want to feel like the fit in, but when they put themselves to the test, neither of them is willing to go through with it. And because of that they also showed the difference between the two worlds by what Bijou Philips character can say without having to have any substantiating evidence.

Overall, this is an interesting film to watch. I would say that it did cop out some on its attempt to create depth by having some of it filmed as a documentary that one of the kids is working on in the film. But it was interesting.

Overall Grade: B
Acting: B+
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B-

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Now, this is a cult classic film if there ever was one. I haven't been to one of the showings of the film, but I was to it as a play, and that was extremely crazy.

Just for a little back ground, this is a rock/jazz musical created in England in the '70's. It is a very interesting and weird film that doesn't have to make sense to be great.

What makes the film great is the absurdity of the characters, there is Rocky, who is just clueless, there is Dr. Frankenfurter, who is crazy for, well, love, and then there are Janet and Brad, who are clueless as to what they have gotten themselves into.

The interplay between the characters is amazing in this film and is the interplay with the audience that has now occurred. There are many sites on-line dedicated to this film and what to shout out during this film.

This film as a whole is about sexuality and, I guess, a sexual revolution with seemingly androginous beings. Mix this up with some songs and everyone being scantily clad, and you get the general idea of the movie. However, you have to see the movie to get the full appreciation for what is going on in this film.

Overall, this is a film that film people should watch once, along with Evil Dead and Flash Gordon, as it is one of those cult classic films that is going to survive through a lot of generations while not being a great film.

Overall Grade: A
Acting: B
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: A-

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Alone in the Dark

I thought I would mix it up a little and stray from films that I like.

Now, this film is arguably one of the worst films ever created. It is based off of a computer, early '90's game I would guess, and is a terrible movie.

The basic premise isn't all that different from many "horror/monster" flicks, but this one is just done extremely poorly. The first hint that it might not be a good film is the fact that the big name in the film is Tara Reid, so acting basically goes out of the window right there.

So the big problem with this film is the lack of actual acting talent and the lack of a good story. The story is tossed together around the action sequences, and the action sequences are rarely anything that is all that impressive.

There was one interesting action scene to watch where some branch of the military is fighting the monsters in a large dark warehouse, type area. It is lit with the muzzle flashes, it has a real video game feel to it, without being really cheesy.

However, that is basically the only redeeming quality, and even that scene is sort of thrown in there. It comes right after the "sex scene" between the two main characters, and there isn't much up to that point in time that would lead one into that scene.

Overall this film is incredibly cheesy, poorly scripted, and poorly acted. I would not recommend this film to anyone, ever. It was a waste of time to watch it. Even the one redeeming scene isn't what you would call a great scene. If you want to watch the type of movie that I mentioned in the first sentence of the paragraph, you could do better with something like Crank, which I will eventually review.

Overall Grade: F
Acting: F
Story: F
Visual/Audio: C+

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The Virgin Suicides

I'm not going to do my normal review of the film, because I have a 15 page paper that I wrote on this film that I think will work just fine to explain what I find it extremely interesting. The second paper, not entitles Virgin Suicides take a look at all of Coppola's work and how as a female director this idea of the male gaze is played out.

The one reason that I like it that isn't covered in the paper is how depressing it is, but enough on that, onto the grades.

Overall Grade: A
Acting: B
Story: A+
Visual/Audio: B+

I highly recommend that people read the book this was based off of, and that you take a look at the paper, because it isn't really a pure review of the film, it looks at it predominantly through the feminist film criticism theories and the idea of the male gaze.

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Stargate

Now, let me admit, I am a big fan of basically all sci-fi, so I have watched the show that spun off from this movie and the show that has spun off of that.

What I find particularly interesting about this film is the indepth use of mythology. I'm tend to find films that deal with mythology, or "gods", to be very interesting. And Stargate does this very well intertwining mythology into reality.

Now before that turns some people off, let me say that in this case there is a difference between mythology and the supernatural. Yeah, it is a sci-fi film, which means that a lot of things will seem supernatural about it, but there isn't some "god" character who zaps people with lightening.

So with this mythology in the film, they manage to blend it nicely so that the mythology plays up against the action sequences to make more then a purely action/sci-fi film. There is definitely some space flight, even though less then a typica sci-fi film, and there are battles, but they also look into culture and religion in the film.

What is impressive from the film to the show is how the actors for the show, while different from the film, were capable of picking up the manerisms of the characters. Which is a good thing, because several of the characters definitely had distinct ways that they acted throughout the film, and for the hardcore fans of the show and the film, it would have been very obvious. So, in the film, basically iwhat I am trying to say, the characters are unique characters. There are some stereotypes played off of, but for the most part the main characters do have their own mannerisms that make them interesting, even if some things are stereotyped.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B

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Hot Fuzz

This is one of the few films that I find absolutely hilarious, a comedy film has be a combination of smart humor and slapstick prat falls in order for me to like it. And Hot Fuzz has an amazing blend of this.

Hot Fuzz is the second film of Edgar Wright that is a satire. He does a brilliant job making fun of the buddy cop type of movie, Bad Boyz, etc. He does it by poking fun at how little of what would be considered "real" police work, such as the paper work or even the simple mug shots are shown in the typical cop movie. And he also saterizes it by copying so many of the action sequences that show up in films like this.

I would say that Hot Fuzz is funnier then his previous work. I'm not sure if it rivals Shaun of the Dead in its ability to parody a zombie movie, but Hot Fuzz has more jokes that are running through it.

The common complaint about this film is that the first half to two thirds are boring and not much happens there, and I have even heard of people making the mistake of turning it off about half way through. However, the beginning does a great job in the less strait forward, more parody humor that most people miss on. And it also does an amazing job of setting up the last 30 to 45 minutes of the film.

If you haven't seen this film, don't think as you watch it that you are bored by the first half and will skip ahead, without the first half, the second half, while funny isn't as great.

Overall Grade: A
Acting: B
Story: A+
Visual/Audio: B+

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Flash Gordon

The movie that I refering to is the 1980's Flash Gordon that has become a cult classic and has the music of Queen in it, just to specify which one I am talking about.

This film is a huge cult classic film. There isn't tons about this film that makes it all that great, but is a fun cheesy comic book adaptation. Also, the music of Queen definitely improves the film.

It really shouldn't be good enough to refer to it as a popcorn flick, but it is one of those films that you can turn your brain off for, watch cheesy looking 80's effects and just enjoy.

I think that one of the things that has really helped this film stick around, including a DVD rerelease only a couple of weeks ago, is that it is a comic book that the baby boomers identify with really well. So that is where a lot of the original interest for this film woudl come from.

However, I know that in the college age generation there is still strong interest in this film as well. It pops up on college movie nights, probably for the reason of being a movie that you can turn your brain off for.

Along with baby boomers, this has to be recognized as one of the first modern comic book movies. Flash Gordon came out two years after the original Superman movie did. So I think that these movies need to be considered some of the early modern comic book movies, which is another reason that Flash Gordon is a movie that should stick around and deserves to stick around.

Overall in this film the acting isn't that great, the lines are extremely cheesy, and the story line is only above average, not amazing. But wide character variety, and the fact that the lines are fittingly cheesy make this a good movie.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B-
Story: B-
Visual/Audio: B+

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I think you're being too generous with the audio/visual portion of the film.

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I might be. I would say that the reason that I have it that high is because I did appreciate the style in which it was shot. It wasn't the highest quality visuals, but I felt like the visuals were of a level where they went with the style of the film.

If they had tried to use grand majestic shots with the story line of the film, it just wouldn't have worked. So, while they weren't the greatest visual, they were the right visual.

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I loved that film. Absolutely incredible... Marie Antoinette is Sofia Coppola's only flop so far, in my opinion.

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Coppola actually did a film before The Virgin Suicides, that I guess was terrible. I agree, Marie Antoinette definitely wasn't as good as her other work. It was beautiful to watch, but the story wasn't near what The Virgin Suicides or Lost In Translation's stories were.

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Lady In The Water

I'll just jump straight into this, what I really liked about the film is that it was a fantasy/fairy tale, not one of M. Night Shyamalan's pseudo horror films. This was really a pure fairy tale story set in modern time in a limited location.

That is another thing that I liked was the fact that this fairy tale was limited to only a motel complex, and it wasn't attempted to be spread all over this amazing fantasy-esque world. Having a limited location helped build up the emotion in the film as the characters were almost trapped in one place.

Also, Shamylan did a much better job of constructing a story in this film then in some of his more recent pseudo horror films. In this film there wasn't a focus on a twist coming in the film, because there wasn't one, but typically in other films he has done, there is such an emphasis on the twist that the film becomes boring to watch if you have figured out the twist, or if seeing it a second time knowing the twist.

Another thing that worked was the diversity of characters. Each character was unique in the film which helped keep it more interesting. Some of the characters were a little more cliche then I would have prefered, but for the most part the cliche characters still fit in as viable parts of the story and they didn't seem wrong for the story.

What I didn't like was the rip on the film critic and M. Night Shyamalan's role in the film. I felt like the film critic was too contrived for the story and didn't really fit in or matter in the grand scheme of the story. And Shyamalan's role was just to grand for a director to put himself into. It was extremely conceited, I felt, for him to take that role as the person who was going to change the world. I don't have a problem with director's in a film, but they can't make themselves that powerful a character, even if the power was never shown in the film and just implied.

Overall Grade: B-
Acting: C+
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B-

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Igby Goes Down

This film is a wonderfully created dark comedy that is as mean as it is funny.

Igby Goes Down is a typical teen angst film, where the main character, Igby is rebillious of his situation and tries to separate himself from everyone in his family. However, this film is better then most as the characters, for the most part, are very excentric and entertaining. Igby himself is such a messed up cynic that his antics and thought processes are interesting to try and keep track of. These characters really drive the story, as the story is basically Igby's "change of heart" in the film, which is rather cliche.

Another interesting part to this film is the situations that Igby keeps on placing himself/getting placed into. These situations, while not realistic to all happen to a single person, are entertaining and almost always very darkly comedic in how he handles them. Also, with these situations that Igby ends up in, it is does explain how he ends up the way that he is, and what is happening in his mind.

The best scene in this film deals with Igby's mother's death and how Igby handles it and how he handles telling to news to relatives.

The one thing that I don't like about this film is how much of a "Hollywood ending" it has. The end of the film is the predictable beginning of the rehabilitiation of one Igby. And it doesn't fit with the rest of the movie as the all the work to the point where Igby ends up, occurs in the last few minutes of the film.

Overall though, the films amazing use of dark comedy makes it a film that is very interesting and entertaining to watch.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: B+
Story: A-
Visual/Audio: B

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Accepted

This film was a better comedy then I was expecting it to be. It maintained a fair number of laughs while actually having some heart and a pseudo message, no matter if it was illogical or not.

This films premise though is so absurd, and the "bad guy" character and the "girl" character are so unbelievably predictable that it causes the film to suffer a lot. This film is chock full of cliche things, and while it does have a little heart, it can't make up for the fact that it reuses characters from every other teen/college movie ever made.

Lewis Black, however, did a very good job. Typically in a teen/college movie there isn't a type of character like his, so he added a breathe of fresh air filled with profanities and non-sensical ramblings that helped make the film somewhat watchable.

Also, fortunately for this film, Justin Long and Jonah Hill did a solid job in their roles helping with the film. They were very cliche characters, but they did a good job of playing out their jokes, much better then many of the characters did.

Overall, this ranks about average with a teen/college comedy. It is no where near the level of Revenge of the Nerds or Superbad, but it still has its moments, and it has a little heart going for it.

Overall Grade: C+
Acting: C
Story: C
Visual/Audio: B-

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16 Blocks

This film, in a sentence, is a typical tough cop and "criminal" trying to take down the corrupt powers that be.

It was a very formulaic film without out much divergence, I feel, from a lot of other films in the genre. Willis plays a cop who is rough around the edges, but stands up for the right thing at the end of his career after he realizes that there is something to fight for.

Moz Def, plays a scared criminal who has to face his fears and take a risk to improve his life by trying to take down the corrupt powers.

And of course they are paired up, because Willis character finds that Def can actually help and Def's character ends up sticking with Willis and he gets to improve his life.

Overall, this film was only an average portrayal of the one sentence synopsis that I gave. There are a lot of other films that play on this same idea that do it just was well as is done in this film. Willis and Def both do good jobs in the roles that they are given, but neither of their acting performances are anything spectacular.

There is a little decent action in this film, but so much of that action is countered by cliche poignant scenes that Willis and Def have as they grow into the characters that they end up as.

Even the one twist isn't anything that is all that shocking. And while this film does entertain, if you want to see a film about corrupt powers there are tons of better ones out there. If you are huge Willis or Def (or both) fan, then you will enjoy this, but someone who knows film is going to find this rather routine.

Overall Grade: C
Acting: B+
Story: C-
Visual/Audio: B-

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The Punisher

This film took superhero movies in a different direction, granted The Punisher isn't a true superhero and he has no superhuman powers, but he falls into the superhero/comic book genre. It could be said that this film, in some ways, is the basis for a film like Batman Begins, as both are very dark comic book films.

The Punisher was not well received when it originally came out, but I feel like that was because it was the first of its kind, as a dark, grittier comic book film. This wasn't a comic book film like kids watch in the Saturday morning cartoons, this one was aimed at adults, and I think that caught people by surprise.

While it isn't a great flick, I think that it deserved a better reception then it did originally. I think now that as the genre of comic book films has developed and there have been bigger failures and other dark films in the genre that this film is starting to get some of the recognition that it deserves.

What I think makes this film good, or what I appreciated about it, was how it was darker. So many of the comic book films have that cartoony feel to them, especially Fantastic Four, and I think for the generations who are in college and older now, we feel often that there could be more depth there, since these movies would make more sense to be aimed at the generations who watched them and who peaked their popularity. So, I think once the initial surprise wore off from how dark this was, this film is something that fans of comic books wanted to see.

Overall, I don't feel like the acting or the cinematography were extremely strong, not poor but nothing that was amazing, which is typical for a comic book based film, but the films story line was good, and the development of the main character in the film was good. I was very happy with the ending as it wasn't the cop out "Hollywood Ending" that so often shows up in mainstream films. Granted that might have been because they were hoping to set up a sequel, but they could have still left a open, albeit less open ending, with a "Hollywood Ending".

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: C+
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B-

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300

This is a film that I have mixed feelings about. It was beautiful to watch, but I don't feel like there was substance behind that beauty. The acting and plot didn't seem anything special to me, and while the fights were very well designed and executed, I didn't have them blow me away.

But first let me address the biggest issue that always comes up with this film, the historicity of the film. I am sure that most of the people here realize that it was based on the comic book not on the actual battle, but many people, generally the average film fan, tends to think that is actually how the battle went. There are shreads of truth scattered in the film, but not enough to make it at all historically accurate.

Now onto the good in this film. The CGI was done amazingly. So many parts of the film were fun to watch just for the use of color and the artistic feelings to the shots. The color in the film was one thing that I was drawn to immediately in the theater as I watched this film.

And the bad in the film. I have heard a lot of people saying that they thought that acting was really good, I wouldn't agree with that statement, there were points where some of the characters did a decent job acting, but for the most part it was below average acting.

And while the story was "fun" in some ways, it wasn't all that interesting. There were a lot of "cliche" lines in the film which detracted from the little that the story actually did.

This is a film that I am glad that I saw once, for the visuals and artistry in the film, but it isn't one that I want to see again because the story and the acting didn't do anything to grab me, and it is important to have more depth then purely the visual.

Overall Grade: C+
Acting: C
Story: C-
Visual/Audio: A

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Nice reviews, glad someone else thought The Punisher was under-rated.

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Good review. I think 300's story was a bit better than you give it credit for, but agree that it's much more pedestrian without is visuals. Then again, it is a largely visual medium, so I don't know that there's anything wrong with that. Might hurt its replay value, however.

Best. Word. Ever.

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Thanks

To me the story is probably the most important part of the film, and I feel like in 300 that the story didn't really drive the film at all, and it was predominantly the visuals as compared to the story. And I felt like the story was similar to what had been done before.

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The Number 23

This is another film that I have mixed feelings about, the idea for the film was a good one, and it worked quite well for a while in the film. And the scenes which were from the book were amazing film noir scenes, but the ending was just terrible completely destroying all the good work that the first part of the film had done.

First off, this is an interesting role of Jim Carrey, it isn't his typical comedy role, but he always plays a comedy role that like a crazy person, and this character is paranoid, so he pulls it off very nicely. So I was impressed him in the more serious role. He also did a very good job of pulling off the noir scenes.

The film noir scenes were definitely the highlight of the film. They were beautiful to watch as they used light and dark and very vibrant colors in the shots. All of the predictable noir characters were there, which made it a very good film. It was fun to see a critique of film noir in a recent film.

What didn't work in this film was the ending. The film reached the last 30 minutes and it tried to wrap everything up extremely nicely. They wanted to put the bad guy in a jail, make the bad guy repentant, and make him become normal again. It was what I like to call a perfect "Hollywood ending". It was so predictable that it took the fun out of the rest of the film.

And finally I will address the story. Like I said in the first paragraph, the idea for the film was very creative, however, the story was ruined by the last half hour of the film. It makes a viewer think about the number 23, a lot, and it was really funny, when I got into the car with my friends and we turned on the car it was 12:23. But it is a good film, at the beginning, as it looks into the idea of paranoia and the number 23.

Overall Grade: B-
Acting: B
Story: C+
Audio/Visual: B

Overall (minus the last 30 minutes) Grade: B+/A-

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The Departed

Now let me say, I enjoyed the film. Well, that is over with, now time to make enemies, I didn't think it was that great a film though. Yeah, there were some nice acting performances in the film, but I found the storyline to be predictable, even the ending, and I felt the genre has been done to death. I was/am getting sick and tired of all the mafia/cop movies that are out and how none of them really do anything all that interesting.

With that said, DeCaprio did a good job, Wahlberg did a very good job, Damon did a very good job, and Nicholas did a great job. I know that most people prefer DeCaprio's performance, but I actually thought that the role he had to play was one of the easier roles to play. He had to act pissed off all the time, and to me, that isn't as difficult as some of the others. Don't get me wrong, he did a great job at it, but as for an extremely demanding acting role, it wasn't on the level with some of the others. Nicholas character I would say would be the hardest to pull off as he had to show a wider range of emotions.

The story itself, like I said, seemed overdone recently. It was too typical cop vs. mafia film. Yeah, the cop was mafia and the mafia was the cop, but that wasn't that much of a twist, typically there is some mole one way or another, or both ways. And the ending, like I mentioned, didn't surprise me at all. I knew what was going to happen to the characters, and to me that is a very "Hollywood ending". It wrapped up everything nicely and answered all the questions as what was going to happen in the future. To me that is a "Hollywood ending", which definitely hurt the film, in my eyes.

Now, I did appreciate the film, and compared to a lot of films in that genre it was pretty good. There was a nice storyline that ran through the whole thing, and even the "Hollywood ending" wasn't as forced as many movies have right now. So it did flow nicely through the end.

Overall Grade: B-
Acting: A-
Story: C+
Visual/Audio: B

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Hackers

This is one of Angelina Jolie's first films, and a pretty enjoyable film, for that reason and others.

What is humourous in this film is the technology that they use. Very little of it is at all close to reality what technology turned into. And the film isn't set more then a year or two into the future of when it had was shot.

What makes this film fun is the humor and the stupid techology that is supposed to be cool. Angelina Jolie does a good job in her role, obviously not a great job, but she plays it well. The other actors are so eccentric in with their roles that it doesn't matter how good they acted, their characters were always going to be odd.

The story line isn't something that is all the original either, but they pull it off well. The genre where teens/kids foil adults has been around so long that this could have been very cliche, but the various characters and how eccentric they were, and probably the fact that I am looking back on it and seeing how absurd the technology was and how absurd the outfits were.

With the outfits, a little of that was the style back then, a lot of bright and loud color combinations, but some of the things in the fashion repretoir definitely weren't normal for any time period. Also the notion of high school kids meandering around New York City by themselves and hacking TV stations in New York City isn't that logical.

But this film is a good popcorn flick. It is funny to see films like this one and Tron that try and guess what future technology is going to be like. And this film also leaves the viewer with a nice happy feeling, so while nothing deep, it could be worse.

Overall Grade: B
Acting: C+
Story: C+
Visual/Audio: B

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Existenz

This film, according to the DVD case, gives the movie, The Matrix, a run for its money. Now this is a vast overstatement. Existenz is a fun movie that deals with some of the same issues as The Matrix, but is no where near the same level as it.

Existenz is basically a film that asks what is reality and what isn't reality. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law star in this film giving performance that are decent but nothing the blows anyone away.

What works in this film is the fact that the story jumps around on the viewer in places. The two main characters are able to be in one place and then show up in another seconds, or less, later. Also, the creativity of the places that they go are interesting. The characters and actions that they take are very interesting and creative to watch.

What doesn't work is that this film tries to be deep, but it really isn't extremely deep. There are a line or two, including the final one in the film, but are pretty good for making someone think, but for the most part this film is a whole lot more fun then smart in how it deals with the issue of reality. I feel like it could have gone deeper into that area, but probably not tons deeper with the subject matter without it becoming extremely corny and much more cliche then it is.

Overall, this is a highly entertaining film, it isn't a great film, or one of my top popcorn films, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow I would say are better popcorn flicks, but this film is fun to watch. It also does offer a little bit to think about, and is much more interesting for that, instead of just being fluff.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B-
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B+

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I like eXistenZ a lot, there's a lot of imagination involved in it and i think one the plus points in it is that it doesn't worry about looking too in depth at it's own philosophy and just lets itself play it. It's a nice turn to body horror and original working from Cronenberg.

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The 13th Floor

This is a film that falls under the same category as The Matrix and Existenz. It is the sort of "what is really reality" type of film.

This film, I would have to say is worse then the two that I mentioned, but it wasn't terrible in the one viewing that I had of it, which was a little while ago.

What made this film good is how it used different times/eras in the film. There are about three different eras used in the film, and they portray them all very well.

Again, this diea of "what is really reality" is extremely interesting to me, because even the simple movies about this do end up asking some interesting questions. This film does it, and it works on a little deeper level then Existenz, but isn't as fun and entertaining.

I say this mainly because, like The Matrix it deals with control of reality and who controls the non-real reality. This is very interesting ot look at.

What doesn't work in this film is that it tries to be a little bit too much like The Matrix by allowing people to leave the alternate reality, or fake reality. However, with how they do it, it doesn't seem as possible as in The Matrix. In The 13th Floor it is much more improbable sci-fi removal from the fake reality.

Overall, this is again an entertaining movie. I don't feel like the story is as strong as The Matrix or Existenz, so it isn't as good, but it is still a very solid film, and if a person likes eithe of the two movies I have compared it to, I would recommend this film.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B-
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B

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The Matrix

Figure that I might as well continue the trend of posting about movies that deal with fake/false/alternative realities, so I thought I would deal with The Matrix.

What makes The Matrix such a good film is the philosohpy and thought that goes into the world that was created, and the story. This film delves into the issues about what is real, what people want to perceive as real, and if people can be content with "reality", among many other things. This discourse/commentary in the film makes it very enjoyable to watch.

Another thing that this film does extremely well is that it blends action with the philosophy. And the action that it has is extremely impressive, but unlike many films that focus isn't on the action as much as it is on the story, so while many films will ramp up the action and the effects to make the film look more impressive, while choosing to ignore story, the Matrix is willing to use many new effects and techniques, but not in a way that they become more important to the story.

Now the downside to this film is that the acting is pretty poor. No one puts on a stellar performance, even though Keanu Reeves is as solid as he always is (take that whatever whey you want to). And even the delivery of the lines typically isn't anything to talk aobut, but in this film with the depth that is created purely by subject matter this can be overlooked. However, in the sequels, where the depth of the subject matter is lost, the acting and the whole movies start to fail as anything interesting to watch.

Overall this is a very enjoyable film, it is one of few films ever made that has a very clear duplicity in that someone could watch it and zone out and watch it for only the action sequences, while other people could care less about the action sequeences and prefer to study the depth of the film and they would both enjoy the film.

Overall Grade: B+/A-
Acting: C-
Story: A
Visual/Audio: A

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Pride And Prejudice

This is refering to the one that came out recently, not the five hour version done by A& E, even though I have seen that one as well. Another comment is that I do have a crush on Kiera Knightley, so that predispositioned me to the film.

With that said, I really liked this film, I thought that it had good acting performances, and while not being as true to the book as the five hour version, mainly because you just can't fit everything from a book in, into a two hour film. I thought that Kiera Knightley did a very good job with that role, and I felt like Donald Sutherland did a great job as the father in the film.

One thing that I like about this film is Jane Austen's sarcasm in her story telling. I love to see sarcasm and that darker type of humor in a story/film, and Pride and Prejudice does it very well. Donald Sutherland has some great lines that he delivers in the film, granted some of the funny lines for his character were cut out in the shortening of the film, and he delivers them extremely well.

What I found a little disappointing about the film was Mr. Collins, I would guess the reason why is because of the A&E version of Mr. Collins. In the A&E version, Mr. Collins is even worse then he is in this film version. He is creepier seeming and weirder, and that helps the dark humor in the film.

Overall I feel like this is a very solid film with some good acting performances that stays true (as possible) to the story. I realize that the general male populice isn't going to be that big a fan of the story, but if you like the dark/sarcastic style of humor, there will definitely be parts of the story that one can enjoy a lot.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B+
Story: A-
Visual/Audio: B-

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The Patriot

It has been a while since I have seen this film, so if I don't get specific enough for you, that is the reason.

What I will say about this film is that I thought it was aweful. I thought that acting was fine, but the plot was boring and predictable. It is a story line that has been done 1000 times before, not always the same time period, and The Patriot didn't add anything to the story.

This is what I would call a prototypical Hollywood film. This doesn't even fall under the category of "Hollywood ending", the whole film is boring and predictable. It would be extremely difficult to make a movie in that genre that isn't boring and predictable, but it seemed to me like The Patriot didn't even try to differentiate itself from other films in that genre.

Mel Gibson did a solid job in his role, but being such a predictable and done role, he wasn't able to do much more then many other actors have done with that role. Same with the other actors in the film. Nobody blew me away, and I don't know if was possible for anyone to impress me that much with a role in that film because of the fact that the film has been "done" many times before in different settings with slightly different characters.

What I dislike about the setting of this film is that it falls into the, again, predictable category of eras for a film of this genre. This sort of film almost always takes place during a time period where men could be real "manly" and would fight eachother in hand to hand combat while tons of people fired shots around them. So, another setting would have helped out the movie some, but this type of revenge/war movie is so overdone that I can't really watch them any more.

Overall Grade: D+
Acting: C
Story: F
Visual/Audio: C

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Gattaca

This film is one of those films that you think is trying to say something about the future and how distopian it could be. I really wonder if there is ever going to be a film that shows a utopian future, probably not since it wouldn't be as interesting to watch.

Now, I made that sound like a negative, but it isn't about the film, as the world they are in is really utopian for a sect of people who is the majority in the society, but in typical film/story fashion, the story focuses not on the utopian part of society, but that of the "underclass" and one person's attempt to leave the underclass and join the utopian society, even though class is determined at birth.

This film is definitely talking about the potentially serious risks of genetic manipulation, that while they might look good are actually working against a utilitarian society.

Now I do realize that it is the majority in this society who are in the "good" (I am talking about how the utilitarian society isn't occuring in this film), but the utilitarian theory is the greatest good for the greatest number, and with this society it seems possible, and enforcable, that there could be things that would allow for the underclass to rise without hurting the upperclass much at all, and defnitely no where near as much as the upperclass believes that it would.

So this play of ideas works very nicely in the filim, and it is interesting to watch the stuggle of one person trying to get away from this underclass into the allegedly utopian society that is available for the elite.

Jude Law, Uma Thurman, and Ethan Hawke all do a good job acting in this film. Again, no Oscar winning performances, but extremely solid job of portraying their roles.

Overall, this is a very solid movie, with a good story, great ideas, and solid acting. It definitely isn't a popcorn flick that is fun to watch if you turn your mind off while doing so, but even on the simplest level it is still somewhat interesting.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: B
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B+

(how does that add up to an A-, I don't know, but it does)

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V for Vendetta

This film is definitely one of the stronger films that has come out in a while. It really keeps along the theme of my previous review (Gattaca) because it deals with a distopian society. Granted, this one appears to be distopian for a large percentile of the population, whether or not the populice is willing to admit it.

What works in this film is the almost theatrical style of acting that V does. He over acts everything, and is often almost like a little kid in what he does. He gets so into films that he has to act out parts of them. And he makes it fun destroying the building.

Natalie Portman also does a solid job in this film. Her performance isn't a great performance, by any means, but it is a solid performance, and I don't know that a great performance from her would have been a good thing, as it would have taken away more from the message of the film and from the performance V gives (note: V's performance isn't a great performance either, but it is the right performance).

I believe the best part of the film is the story itself though and the ideas that flow through the story. One quote from the film that sums up what the message behind the story goes as follows:
And I think that this film does a good job of explaining why this is the case.

There isn't much of anything that I can find fault with in this film. I guess if I had to come up with something, it would be that it isn't a film that I feel like I can watch often as it isn't as brainless as many films, and the action that is in there definitely isn't that important. However, that is a lousy reason not to like the film extremely well, but it isn't a purely popcorn flick, which is what I am sure some people thought it would be/should be because it was based on a comic book/graphic novel.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: B
Story: A-
Visual/Audio: B+

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I liked V for Vendetta too. It is one of the few comic adaptations that I felt really did a good job of recreating that world.

What you said about the acting is interesting. I am not one to find over the top acting as problematic as some, but I was put off by it until I settled into the movie. On second viewing, I appreciated it more.

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TMNT

I am a fan of the superhero/comic book/cartoon silver screen flirtations. So I was a fan of this film.

While it didn't stay true to any pre-existing story line, it had a good storyline, it kept important characters, like the Foot Clan, in it, and it kept the turtles the same.

It was a great romp through a fun, action-packed, popcorn movie. They started in early with the action, in the back story at the beginning, and they didn't stop really at all through the film.

I really can't say much about the acting, but the CGI was very well done, and while it definitely wasn't realistic CGI at all, it was right for the type of movie that it was. If the turtles had actually looked like turtles, or April had looked like a real person, it wouldn't have had the same, fun feel that it did. The CGI style was very similar to The Incredibles, which just so happens to be the same style of film.

Just thinking about this film now actually makes me want to watch it again, so that is a good sign about this film. I feel like, as a popcorn film, it is one that won't become boring to watch after the third or fourth viewing, and that it would be hard to be overplayed at all. It is a film that you can turn your brain off for, and because I grew up watching the turtles, I have a soft spot for them in my heart, which probably makes it easier for me to watch.

Overall, there is nothing about this film that makes it great. But what makes this film as good as it is, is that it does a good job updating the story without ruining any of the pre-existing story, and it has the fun cartoon/comic book feel to it.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B (by acting in this film I mean voice work)
Story: B-
Visual/Audio: A (this isn't a masterpiece of audio and visual preportions, but everything in it works for the film)

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Nacho Libre

Where to begin with this film, it was a disappointment after the work of Napolean Dynomite, not saying I found that film great, but just that this one was really poor.

The story itself was a humorous idea with a little potential. However, there really wasn't much potential, and with the actors they had and how the story was written, it didn't even live up to that low potential.

Now, I like Jack Black as an actor. Thought that he was solid in School of Rock and Orange County. However, this role didn't suit him because of the style of humor. He couldn't be the lovable loser in this film, and I think that is probably the role that he has to play.

Now his sidekick did a solid job, definitely was the funniest part. However, he was nowhere near good enough to make this a funny film. His role was good, but not large enough or his perforance good enough, to save this film.

What did work were a few awkward, Napolean Dynomite-esque lines delivered between Jack Black's character and the Nun. The sort of relationship/awkward humor as was found in Napolean Dynomite. That was about the only humor that worked in the film though. Very little worked besides that and the sidekick. Even the training sequence was much more stupid then funny.

Overall this is a very poor film. It is made funnier by watching it late at night, when I watched it, and probably drunk (I haven't tried this theory out yet). I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone, even the biggest Jack Black fan out there.

Overall Grade: D-
Acting: D
Story: F
Visual/Audio: D

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I will give it a miss :yup: thanks for the review :)

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Marie Antoinette

First off, that I like about this film. This film is one of the more beautiful films to watch. I've made the comment that 300 is a beautiful film to watch, that really doesn't hold anything to this film. Sofia Coppola does a great job in crafting the images and displaying them in an aesthetically pleasing way.

There is the montage sequence of the various foods and other parts of Marie Antoinette's life that are shown, to the song "I Want Candy", that is just done beautifully.

Another thing that I appreciate about this film is how, while it is a period peice, the film doesn't feel like it needs to stick to only period music. The soundtrack does a very good job of mixing period music with contemporary music. This gives this film its own, distinct feel to it, that very few other films ever have, because they try and be so close to what the actual period music.

The acting in this film is nothing that impressed me all that much. Dunst and Schwartzman do fine jobs in their roles, but the roles were so under developed that neither of them got that much of a chance to actually act.

The big problem with this film, which is why I don't own it since in general I like Coppola films (Sofia) and I like Dunst films, is the story and the development of the characters in the film. This part of the film is lacking, notably. Especially in the area of the story. While it does follow history, it fails to delve into anything more then what was going on in broad, sweeping strokes. This then hurts the character development because that is again done on a macro level, and the audience doesn't feel as close to the characters because of the macro character development, not developing the intimate details.

Overall, this is a film that I probably will see again sometime, I saw it originally in the theaters, but it isn't a film that I fell in love with for anything more then the visuals. The story if weak enough that it makes it a below average film.

Overall Grade: B-
Acting: B-
Story: C-
Visual/Audio: A-

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The Prophecy

This is the first film in the trilogy (I think they stopped at three). As the name suggests the film has something to do with religion and good versus evil. The idea for the film isn't that bad a one, it is somewhat similar to the idea of Constantine, a battle between heaven and hell. However, this film doesn't do a good job of weaving the story.

What works in this film is Christopher Walken (and for some odd reason he is actually in the second film as well). He does a good job in his role as Gabriel, and does an excellent job of being creepy, which is nice to see considering all the comedy that he has done.

Viggo Mortenson is also in the film, and he does a solid job as well. His role is simply that of playing the devil and he shows up for a few minutes at he most, but he does a good job in his role and is also sufficiently creepy.

What is bad about this film is that the story line, while having potential to be original is really cliche and not deep, at all. Also, the acting of the leads in the film leaves a lot to be desired. Even Walken's part, which is decently large, is overshadowed by the two main characters and how poorly they act their roles. It isn't like they were the worst actors ever, but with the story line, they needed to have good acting performances to make up for it.

However, this film isn't a terrible film, while it isn't as amazing a storyline as it could be, they do a good job of holding the storyline together, and it is a pretty entertaining film to watch.

Overall Grade: C+
Acting: C+
Story: C-
Visual/Audio: B

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1)

This review is of the original live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutles movie. I bought it because some buddies and I wanted to a movie to watch while we were drinking, and I figured, and they knew, that this film would be good pointless fun to watch while drinking.

Again, I will add the disclaimer, that I grew up on the Turtles, not as much as some other comic book heroes, but I watched the T.V. show often, so I got a soft spot for their corniness in my heart.

This film really isn't anything all that great, the acting is poor, the story is farfetched, and there are people dressed in turtle costumes.

However, that doesn't begin to scratch the surface as to what this film is. This film isn't ment to be change anything in the film industry, unless it teaches them a few things to avoid, this film is meant to entertain the audience with cheesy dialogue and a farfetched plot which is full of action and these remarkable scenes where, if it weren't for the fact that it was people dressed up on turtle costumes, they could be considered touching.

I find it funny how people are more apt to frown upon this film then many '90's action films saying how cheesy and cliche so many parts of this film are. There is the scene where the turtles finish their training in order to get back Splinter, which if it had been done with real people, there would be some people who would have thought it was a touching scene.

This movie is one that I would consider an above average popcorn movie. If you liked the early 90's comics/cartoons, then you will enjoy this film, because that is what this film is, just with people. There are obviously a lot of people who won't find this film all that great, my suggestion is try a few beers first and then watch it, it helps, even though I do appreciate the film as one that is just fun to watch, even without being tipsy.

Overall Grade: B-
Acting: C
Story: B
Visual/Audio: C-

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

This was a girlie, drinking eating movie for me http://bestsmileys.com/drinking/10.gif I doubt I will add it to my collection :nope:

Thanks for the reviews :yup:

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Blades of Glory

I just watched this film for the first time last night, and I must say that I found it more amusing then I thought it would. The idea of the film is absurd, but if you can look around the problems with it, it is pretty entertaining.

What works in this film is the interplay between Will Ferrell and John Heder's characters. Their voices naturally sound like they are opposites. So their dialogue, especially where they are arguing with eachother, works really well. Also, their body types also help show the difference in characters naturally.

Another set of characters that work are that of Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, and Jenna Fischer. Again there is the interplay of Arnett and Poehler with Fischer. Fischer does a very good job, both in this film and in the office, of playing someone who is very passive and able to be pushed around.

What doesn't work is the absurdity of the story. There are some points in time where it just became to stupid to be all that funny. Especially the parts prior to the training of Ferrell and Heder's characters. It wasn't until the point where they begin training together that it starts to become pretty funny. Before that, where they are working on their own, it is mainly stupid jokes.

Another thing that I thought worked once in a while but mainly failed is the stalker of John Heder's character. There are a few points in time where he is funny, but for the most part, he seems like a poorly added character who doesn't really add anything to the level of the humor.

What I really liked in this film was the use of "Flash" by Queen. I'm a big fan of that song.

Overall this film was funnier then I was guessing it would be. It definitely isn't one of hte funniest films in the world, but it does a good job of not letting itself fall to low at many points in time. And it was cast extremely well.

Overall Grade: B-
Acting: B
Story: C
Visual/Audio: B

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The DaVinci Code

I went into this film with low expectations. I had read the book and found it really lousy, not for the subject matter like so many people who haven't read the book claim that it is lousy for, but because the characters were extremely shallow and the main character was perfect (if you didn't think that The DaVinci Code, the book, was like that read Angels and Demons, it is even worse then its sequel).

And the film actually managed to be worse then the book in my opinion. I like the idea for both the book and the film, the combination of religion/mythology and action/mystery always interests me, but The DaVinci Code was one of those books that completely failed at combining those two things.

My biggest gripe about the film is the issue with the characters being shallow and not developed at all. Tom Hanks character has no character flaws, there is nothing in the film that makes him seem at all like a real person. He has claustophobia for the first twenty minutes of the film until he has to ride in the back of a van with some girl who cures him of it. From that point on there is basically nothing that he does that could be considered a mistake.

And the other characters in the film don't have any more depth either. All the characters are extremely stock characters, that if it were a movie that was intentionally cheesy might work in it, but with this subject matter in the film, the stock characters completely ruin any intrigue into what is happening in the film.

The one of the other things that bugged me was how they felt the need to change the ending of the film. The typical argument against the film and book is how it is extremely anti-Christian, which is pretty understandable. The book's ending was anti-Christian and the films ending tried to push it even further. This again fails miserably.

Overall, the only redeeming thing about the film was that Tom Hanks did a pretty solid job acting. The story is purely "summer fiction", something to breeze through and not think about again, but it fails to keep up the same entertainment level as other popcorn films.

Overall Grade: D-
Acting: C-
Story: F
Audio/Visual: B-

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The New Guy

This film falls under the category of a teen/popcorn flick. And it does a good job being a popcorn flick having some action, cheesy lines, and Eliza Dushku modeling swimsuits. It is a really good summer, brain off type of movie.

What works in this film is how awkward DJ Qualls is in the film. Even when he tries to act cool, it really looks like he is trying to act cool, and failing. So he does a good job in this film.

Another thing that works, for this type of film, is the type of story that it has. It is very absurd, and would never work, or happen, in reallife, but for this feel good, underdog triumphing, teen, popcorn movie, it is fits perfectly. It doesn't try to be more then it is, which is a very good thing.

Also in this film that makes it fun is the guest appearances. There are a lot of random musicians and celebrities who show up in the film. These appearances are pretty funny to watch typically and range from Tony Hawk to Vanilla Ice to Josh Todd (from Buckcherry). Most of the guest appearances are very funny.

There isn't much that doesn't work in this film. At a few points in time the story gets too absurd, even for itself, and that hurts it. And the acting performances aren't anything to talk about, even Qualls fits his role, but isn't amazing.

Overall this is just a fun film to watch. Like I said, it is one of those films that works really well for turning your brain off for and watching a whole lot of random appearances and odd events happening on screen.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: C+
Story: B-
Audio/Visual: B-

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I'll bet if I ran a search, 90% of your reviews would use the phrase "popcorn film," or some slight derivation of it. ;)

Anyway, keep 'em comin'.

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Doesn't shock me, I don't watch what I would consider great films as often as I do what I consider "popcorn films" just because a lot of the time when I want to watch a film I don't want to have to think. Plus, when I write these I'm hungry :skeptical:

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Aeon Flux

Now this is a film that got rocked when it came out that I didn't find nearly as bad as the critics did. This film is entertaining, a good popcorn film :) , but it also does have a little level beyond that.

The antagonist in the film demonstrates how power can corrupt even in the scenerio where something being done is for the greater good of all people. So it deals with that issue, a very common, granted, in films, but it does so in an interesting way.

Also, the action in this film is good. Charlize Theron does a good job in a strong action role. This is a film where little of the acting is considered great, but it is done well enough that it works for the film. Generally speaking, in predominantly action films the acting can be only so-so and still work just fine for the film, because the focus is on the action and the fight sequences.

Another thing that I liked about this film is the sci-fi world in which it was placed. It was on many levels close enough to reality, but there were touches of the creative and weird that don't exist yet. However, none of this stuff was so absurd, such as aliens, that it became more of a focal point of the movie then what was going on in the story. All of the sci-fi changes only seemed at most three steps away from reality as we know it.

What didn't work so well in this film were a few of the side characters. The actress who helps Charlize Theron and then tries to assinate her did a poor job with her acting. So, while this didn't detract from the film, several of the characters definitely didn't add anything to the film like they could have.

Also, the story in this film isn't something that is extremely original. There definitely were some original takes on things, but the general theme of the story has been done many times before.

Overall Grade: B
Acting: C+
Story:B-
Audio/Visual:B+

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Sunset Blvd

I watched this film in a film class that I took in college and completely enjoyed the film. There are amny aspects of this film that make it entertaining and good. But I want to go at this film from the point of view as to how it can be interpreted and looked at in different ways.

The first way I will address is that of a horror film. This doesn't seem like a typical way to look at it, but when the prof. had us write up about this film after watching it, he had given us a few different categories, I chose to write about the horror elements in the film. The are some definite horror elements in the film, one of the big ones is the setting of the house in the film. The house is broken and run down. There are bars in the doorways, and shrubs and trees that are all overgrown. Also, the Norma Desmond character is often shown focusing on her long fingers with her clawlike fingernails. So there are several parts in this film that are easy to say that they are in the style of a horror film.

Another way of looking at this film is as a dark comedy, and this is the most common way. The aspects of Norma Desmond's delusions of granduer. The places that Joe Gillis finds himself in, stuck between someone he can't stand and the girlfriend/fianse of his good friend.

The final way that, in my class, we could write about it was as a romance, or a romantic comedy. It does have some elements of a typical romance. Joe Gillis is trapped in this wrong relationship, and then he finds the right person. And he has to win over the right person and figure out some way to get out of the wrong situation. It doesn't end up as a happy romance, but it definitely could be looked at as a romantic tragedy.

I think that the combination of all these different elements, most of which end up causing it to be a dark comedy, blend perfectly into an interesting look at the change from the era of silent film to "talkies", and how that transition occurred for the movie stars. Billy Wilder does an amazing job of creating this dark story.

Overall Grade: A
Acting: B+
Story: A+
Visual/Audio: A-

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Waking Life

This film is an attempt at philosophy while on an acid trip, or at least that is what it seems like at times. However, I haven't seen this film in a while, so my review might to be a little rusty in my information on the film.

It does an interesting job with the philosophy delving into a lot of different things around life and death and what happens at death in his interactions with many different characters. However, the different types of characters that show up throughout the film are too often stock/cliche characters like you would expect to find in this type of film. This film, while trying to be original, becomes a rehash of many ideas that are often delved into individually in films, instead of all in one film.

The other big thing about this film is its style. It is a very interesting and trippy style of animation. This style of animation fits well with the film, but it often can cause, even a person who rarely if ever gets motion sick, to start feeling it a little with the constantly shifting edges and perspectives without shifting angle. It feels right for the film though, as it becomes a very surreal look at things, but would be better in moderation.

Overall this was a film that I found interesting to watch once. Looking at it from purely the philosophy aspect of the film, it does a very good job of being interesting. However, acting wise and animation wise it left something to be desired. The content was there, but the film contained a very poor representation of the content.

Overall Grade: B
Acting: C+
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: B

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

Thanks for the reviews Gnut :yup:

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Equilibrium

You know, thinking about it, I am actually getting tired of this type of film. Probably the reason that while I find V for Vendetta a good film, I can't watch it all that often. Equilibrium is another film where it is the people versus the government.

This film though is pretty interesting about the specific idea of trying to remove all creativity/originality from society. To me this is something, which the film hints at, that is occuring somewhat now. People really don't think about what they themself do, but instead tend to follow whatever trend is currently popular, even when the trend is allegedly unpopular. So I find this mentality interesting in the film and how it shows up in real life.

However, like all films in this genre, it has to be made into an action film, predominantly. And this one is a pretty solid action film. The fighting, since it is choreographed so much, is interesting to watch, because it is less fighting then a form of dancing. So it is actually fairly beautiful to watch.

But the acting in this film, while at points it was fine, didn't really impress me. The characters for the most part were as expected, so fairly stock characters without stepping too much/if at all outside of the norm. So that is one problem that I have with this film. If the characters had been more original it would have made this film extremely good.

Overall, this is a good film, as I like the ideas, and I like the visuals in the film. The acting leaves a lot to be desired, but this film is solid in most other aspects.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: C-
Story: B-
Visual/Audio: A

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Talledagha Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

This, I felt, was not one of Will Ferrell's finer films. He does a good job in it, and there are some funny parts, but even for someone who pays attention to NASCAR decently well (I haven't payed up attention as much as I did a few years ago) it wasn't an extremely funny movie.

Like a lot of comedy films, the characters ended up being too stock for my liking. Some stereotyping of characters is fine, but this film most, if not all, were stereotyped. There was the deadbeat dad who was a complete redneck hick. There was the dumb beauty and the cute but un-noticed friend. There was the best buddy who followed and went along with everything that his friend said. There were the two lippy kids and the stupid grandpa. While that might not seem stock, the way that they are portrayed for their characters, you can peg what type they are from a long ways away.

And the story itself was fairly cliche as well. I won't go into detail as to how it was so cliche, because that would give it away for anyone who wants to watch it, but the way things happen is extremely typical for the pseudo-sports drama type of film. It was nice that it added the aspect of humor to this film, but like I already mentioned, the characters were very much stock characters.

Another problem with this film is it basically only used crude/dumb humor. I realize that is typical for a Will Ferrell film, but compared to some of his other films, like Anchorman, this one is worse at it. There aren't really any subtle jokes. Basically all the jokes rely on shock value as much as actual created humor.

However, with that said, some of the shock value jokes are pretty funny. They get a little old as the movie rolls through, but they don't fail on all the jokes. So, it is a film that is humorous, but it isn't nearly as good as some comedies out there, but compared to the typical stupid comedy, it is pretty good.

Overall Grade: C
Acting: C+
Story: C-
Visual/Audio: C+

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

Must get out my copy of Equilibrium and watch it again :yup: every time i go to the Video shop I see Talledagha Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, for some reason I avoid it :yup: maybe that is a good thing :goof: Thanks Gnut ;D

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The Pink Panther

This is the original Pink Panther film that I am reviewing at this point in time, not the new Steve Martin version that came out. Even though you can expect a review for that version at some point in time.

I must that I enjoyed this film a lot, as I enjoy all of the Pink Panther films. Blake Edwards does a great job of creating these absurd movies with a lot of physical/stupid humor in them. However, he keeps things moving much better then most stupid humor films which only rely on the jokes of stupid humor in them. The Pink Panther films do rely on a subtle humor of reoccuring jokes, and the humor of the absurd in them.

Another thing that makes this film better then a typical stupid humor film is the acting ability of Peter Sellers. He does an extremely good job playing this over the top character. His accent and mannerisms are what make this character lovable yet hilarious.

This film itself wasn't one of the best Pink Panther films, in my opinion, with A Shot in the Dark being the best Pink Panther film, but it is the original and it does have the pink panther diamond in it. What works well in this film is the blundering not only of Clouseau, but many other people in the film. This adds to the humor in the film, but at points it could dwell more on Clouseau and his humor, but it does show up a lot in the film.

Overall Grade: B+

Acting: B+
Story: B
Audio/Visual: B

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I love all the Pink Panther Movies :yup:

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Remember the Titans

Typically I am not a fan of the teenage/highschool sports dramas. I couldn't stand Coach Carter and I haven't even bothered to try watching some. But I sort of like Remember the Titans It has a good heartwarming story to it, and it deals with more then the typical teen in trouble and the team is in trouble issues that these movies often touch on.

The issue that it deals with is racism, which I think adds more depth to the film. Not for the racism that is occuring, but unlike many films, this one shows how things can bring people together, and normally I am a person who likes downer movies. However, I feel like in the area of racism there have been enough downer movies, and this one it is nice to see unity and community at the end of the film.

The acting in this film is pretty solid. Denzell Washington and Will Patton do a good job in their roles. While these roles do seem somewhat cliche, it is sort of interesting to note that it is based on fact and I guess tha tmeans that people can seem cliche when you look at them only at certain times. I always find it interesting when a movie is based on a true story and they tell about where people are now, or what they did later on in their life. For some reason that adds even more of a sense of reality.

Overall this is a good film. It is touching at some points, and it has some fun football action in it (probably another reason I like it better then most in this sub-genre is because it is about football, but then again I wasn't a fan of Varsity Blues and I couldn't even make it through Friday Night Lights). The acting is good enough and the story carries itself.

Overall Grade: B
Acting: B+
Story: B
Audio/Visual: B

Note: The one thing though that will forever disturb me about this film is the fact that Hayden Panettiere is in it. It is awkward to think that someone who I find attractive now, is a little kid in that film.

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Casino Royale

This, I thought, was probably the best Bond film that I have seen, and while I don't believe that I've quite seen all of them, I have seen the vast majority, I thought that this one did many things better then most.

One of the big things is that made this film good, in my opinion, was how Daniel Craig played Bond. He had some of the sauve-ness of Bond that is seen with Pierce Brosnan, but he was a much harder and tougher person then any of the previous Bonds had been. This makes sense in the line of chronology as this is when he first became a 007.

The other actors and actresses in the film did a good job as well. I appreciated Eva Green in the role of the Bond Girl in the film, and I thought that she did a good job acting for it. And while they did mess with some of the other traditional characters in the film, the changes that they made, I felt, didn't ruin those characters.

As for the story, I felt like it was a very typica Bond film story. There were a few points where it was a little slower and notably less absurd then some of hte previous Bond films, but for the msot part it was like a Bond film was supposed to be.

The action sequences in the film were very good, in that they flowed into the story and weren't ever so over the top that they took focus off the story. And I think that is very important that they are somewhat realistic, granted it was a Bond film and they rarely are realistic in Bond films, but for the tougher, grittier image that they were trying to show in this Bond film, the realism of the action was more important.

Overall this was a solid and enjoyable film. I would say that I am more likely to watch this Bond film again as compared to the others, which while I found them entertaining, didn't have the same style of story to make it interesting.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B
Story: B+
Visual/Audio:B+

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The Phantom of the Opera

I was a big fan of this film, which isn't generally the case for musicals. There are a few musicals I like, Singing in the Rain is one I can think of off the top of my head, but generally I find them somewhat entertaining, but nothing all that great.

However, this one was very good. The first thing that I think of is the music in the film. What is very impressive about the music is that only one of the actors/actresses had someone sing for her, and the rest of the cast did their own singing, and it was very good.

Along with that first thing is that fact that the acting wasn't terrible. To often in musicals, especially live plays, you see the actors/actresses who are great at singing, but really can't act. In this film that didn't seem to be the case.

Another big thing that caught me up in this film is the visuals. It is a very beautiful film to watch. The colors are very rich throughout the whole film, and because of that it is interesting to watch.

I really don't have much that I can say was wrong with this film. The acting performances weren't extremely strong, but as compared to many musicals it was very solid.

Overall, this isn't going to be that popular movie in general because of the fact it is a musical. However, this one is better then most, if not all, in my opinion, and most people should be able to appreciate it for the beauty and the singing in the film.

Overall Grade: A
Acting: B
Story: B+
Visual/Audio: A+

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

Why are you reviewing ancient mainstream films?

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

Why not?

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

Maybe he just watched them :yup:
I always find peoples opnions about movies interesting no matter the movie :yup:
Thanks Gnut :)

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

Well, not everyone has seen every mainstream film for one reason. Secondly, while art house films are generally better, they aren't what makes the film industry, so some focus on the main stream film and what makes certain mainstream films more entertaining or better then others is important to note.

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Mirrormask

This film and story comes from the mind of Neil Gaiman, which is a great and very interesting mind. The story focuses around the imaginary world that Helena Campbell creates and her interaction with it, whether in reality or fantasy. Neil Gaiman does a great job of creating this fanciful story that is very entertaining as well as filled with subtle bits of humor that, while the story is generally a childrens story, makes the story interesting to adults.

The biggest thing, then, that the film has going for it is the story. Like I said, Gaiman crafts it in such a way that while the story might seem childish, there is subject matter and humor that would go un-noticed by children. Gaiman works this theme of masks throughout the whole film. It is interesting as each character hides their true nature behind their masks, and it really is difficult for them to expand beyond the nature of the mask.

The other big thing that makes this film interesting is the visuals in the film. The world of fantasy that is created is much more based on the actual visuals in reality that Helena creates for her world of fantasy, so it isn't the typical epic wide open spaces with extremely vibrant colors. However, the style that is used is very interesting and equally as beautiful, albeit beautiful in a different way, to watch then a typical fantasy setting.

The acting in the film isn't extremely strong. Stephanie Leonidas does a good job in the film with her acting, giving one of the stronger performances in the film, as Helena, but none of the performances are extremely amazing, but most very solid.

Overall, I feel like this is a film that some people won't get and won't enjoy just because of the style of the film and the childish story of the film. However, there is another level which Gaiman adds to the story, and it is a very entertaining film and one that I personally enjoy a lot and can watch over and over.

Overall Grade: A-
Story: A
Acting:B-
Visual/Audio: A+

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The Station Agent

This is a fun, touching film, which isn't typically something I like in films. Generally I prefer the darker, sadder films and while this film does have that in it, a fair amount at points, it does end up generally with a better feeling.

What makes this a good film is the diversity of the characters, which in this case means how unique the various characters are, especially the three main characters. Peter Dinklage does a good job playing his role as well as Patricia Clarckson and Bobby Cannavale. But Peter Dinklage definitely does the best job, as his role is more demanding then the other two, I would say.

The story itself is also very interesting. It moves slowly and is dominated by character development, but the issues that the characters face and have to deal with make this an interesting story. The slow pacing could be seen by some as a problem with this film, but I feel like it adds depth to the film by allowing the characters to be looked at much more deeply.

Overall, there isn't really much I can fault this film for. The characters are very interesting and definitely drive this film. Even the side characters have interesting personalities and work on creating and shaping the main characters into what they are at the end of the film.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: A
Story: A-
Visual/Audio:B

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The Thirteenth Floor

What is interesting about this film is the subject matter which deals along similar lines of the Matrix with what is reality. However, I feel like it focuses only on this issue, while the Matrix branches off into other areas as well. This film does a good job showing how this fake reality works, and it is interesting with the level that they take this idea of fake reality to.

The ideas in the film are definitely the strong point, the acting in the film is average at best, and the science in the film (this is very much a sci-fi/futuristic film) is shaky at best. However, since the idea in the film is the most important thing to the film, it doesn't hurt the film much to have shaky science, even the the acting would be nicer if it was better.

Story wise, this film was above average in its story. This film does a great job of combining multiple realities and multiple eras/cultures throughout the film. So the story itself flows together quite nicely. And other then the shaky science it doesn't leave itself with really any plot holes (and the shaky siceicne I can live with as techinically it is unknown if that science is possible, but right now it would be considered highly improbable).

Overall, this is a film that falls somewhere between a popcorn film and a really good thinking film. It is kind of like ExiStenz in that it combines the two elements of enjoyment and thought very well and you don't have to think too hard about it if you don't want to, but if you choose think while watching the film, there is something to think about.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting:C+
Story:B+
Visual/Audio:B

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It's been a while since I've done one of these, but life is busy and sucks that way at some points in time.

Transformers

Yeah, I know, I should have probably seen it before last night being that I like comic book films, generally, but I didn't see it in theaters, so I have an excuse.

My initial thoughts on this is that it is only a so-so adaptation of the comic book/cartoon of it. There are some parts, such as parts with Optimus Prime, that are great to watch, and other parts that are very cliche, but that comes with the genre, in that it wouldn't be a comic book/cartoon film if it wasn't cliche/corny at points in time.

I'm not that big a fan of Shia LaBouf in general, but I thought that he did a pretty good job in this film. It seemed to be a role that fit his personality well. Megan Fox on the other hand was very nice to look at, but was bad in her role. Other then that the acting was pretty solid, nothing great, but the Sector 7 guy was poor as well.

Overall, visually it wasn't that bad. The Autobots and the Decepticons were portrayed well, and fun to watch. They did a good job of intertwining them with the live action that was going on in the film.

The story, itself, was pretty good, some interesting back story, nothing spectacular in the story, but in a movie like this the story is secondary to the action, generally. So this film does a decent job of balancing the two.

Overall Grade: B
Acting: C
Story: C
Visual/Audio: B+

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Hi Gnut, Nice review thanks :)

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

The Invisible

I liked this more then I was expecting to. When I saw the trailer before it came out, I was hoping that the film would be good, but then it got rocked by reviews, so my expectations were lowered greatly for it. But when it came out on DVD and I could watch it cheaply, I knew that I had to, so I watched it. And I was very pleasently surprised by it.

The film seemed to often be very high handed. Just the attitude eminating from the film was that it was a film that was full of itself, and this was more then just the characters, who for the most part were full of themselves, but also in the way it was shot. However, because the characters were full of themselves, it made the high handedness of the movie correct for the film and it didn't detract as much as it typically would in a film that is full of itself.

The premise for the film was an interesting premise and I thought played out well in this film. The story, like most teenager based films, had its cliche moments and lines, but the characters in this film were enough to drive it past those points. The story is based off of a Swedish (I'm 95% sure it was Swedish) book and the idea/story has actually been made previously into a Swedish film. But the basis of the story hadn't been done in American cinema, and not having seen the Swedish film before, it was a pretty original idea, and portrayel of the idea.

But what really made this film were the characters. Yeah, they were full of themselves, but I think in some ways that is generally closer to reality simply for the area that they were living in, where there was a very varying demographic from the upper class to the lower class and how both of those classes looked at the other. The main character in the film, I would argue, isn't the most important, or the best character (or in reality the main character) in the film. Justin Chatwin does a good job of playing the "main character" in the film, but his role is really over shadowed by Margarita Levieva's performance in her role. Her character develops much more throughout the film, where as Chatwin's is generally more stagnent, and even though their is assumed change at the end, it doesn't feel like there is tons of notable change in his character. However, Levieva's character changes notably in her perception of how things are and who she is.

My biggest knock on this film is the use of music in the film. There are several scenes where the acting/dialogue and general feel of the scene are going to be enough to convey the emotion, however, the music is brought up to such a level that it is the dominant feature, or near the dominant feature in the scene for conveying the emotion, and it really becomes somewhat cliche at those points in time. However, this doesn't happen often enough to detract tons from the movie.

Also, this film has a "pseudo-Hollywood ending". It does somethings right, but this is generally only after it screws up in its ending by making it somewhat of a "Hollywood ending". Also, the final scene in the film is pretty "Hollywood", but it is simple enough that it doesn't detract too much from the previous work of the film.

Overall this is a film that has its faults, but it overcomes most of them with the story and the characters in the film. I have a feeling that it is a film that some will like a lot and that some won't like simply because some of the faults that I feel it overcomes, or work in the film, others will see as severally detracting from the film.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B-
Story: B+
Audio/Visual: C

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Good reviews, Gnut (I'm going to start calling you Gnut as well, because I like all of Nebbs' campy, pet names. :D)

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The Simpson's Movie

I watched it for the first time last night, and I was somewhat disappointed by it. As a big fan of the show, I was hoping that they could sustain the level of wit and humor throughout the whole thing, however, there were notable drop offs throughout the script.

What it did a good job of was in its satire about the government making fun of how so often people who often work for the government and then get their companies the contracts for government jobs. Also, having Arnold as the Presidentator was pretty funny.

The parts that dragged from time to time were those with the Simpson family themselves. Too often the conversations between Marge and Homer were boring to listen to, and didn't feel like they flowed into the story as well as the rest of the film.

I guess that my biggest gripe against it is that I didn't end up laughing at all the jokes that I was supposed to laugh at. That made it much less enjoyable because the lulls were longer then they should have been in a Simpson's film or TV episode.

Overall this film still hads its moments, but it was not as good as I was expecting it to be. What also didn't help was the fact that I had heard a few details of this film prior to seeing it, so when I thought about it, some of the things were predictable.

Overall Grade: B-
Acting (Voice): B+
Story: C+
Audio/Visual: B-

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Black Sheep (2006)

I do realize that there have been a couple of films by the name of Black Sheep but the one I am referring to is the new movie from New Zealand. The basic premise of the film, for those who don't know, is that a man who had a traumatic experience with sheep returns to the family farm and ends up having to fend off zombie sheep.

In overall quality, such as acting, storyline, dialog, etc. this film is lacking. The only thing that really stands out as being all that great are the visuals in the film as all of the special effects were done by WETA, which as you all know does very good work.

But what makes this film good is how absurd it is, and how wonderfully hilariously entertaining this film is. It is on the level of Army of Darkness in that it is intentionally trying to be a wonderfully bad film, and it pulls it off so wonderfully. The over-the-top gore, and the absurd dialog throughout the film make it really really funny to watch. Through my viewing of it, I was laughing a lot of the time.

This is a decently low budget film that had the vast majority of its budget go into the special effects, but while the actors and actresses aren't that good in this film, they play it well enough so that they aren't unbearable to watch, and having a stronger performance from any of them would ruin the feel that the movie has.

Overall this is a wonderful horredy filled with everything expected from a good horredy: gore, romance, genetically mutated sheep, etc. This is a film that people will either love or hate, and because of its not to serious style and portrayal, it is not a film that anyone will ever critically acclaim for anything more then being a good horredy.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: C
Story: C-
Visual/Audio: B

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Thanks for the review Gnut :yup: i don't think I could watch a film about killer sheep :nope: I have never ever met a sheep that has a mean bone in it body :nope:

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"Horredy." I love it!

Did you coin that yourself?

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

I might have, I don't remember for sure because it is a phrase that I have been using for a while. But I think that I heard it somewhere else and started using it, but there is no way that I could track it back and remember where I heard it at.

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Hot Rod

Andy Samberg's first film was decently entertaining with a lot of good "digital short" like humor from SNL. However, like most SNL actor based movies, the story was a little lacking like in most of the skits.

The biggest problem with this film is that it tried to have a "heart" at some points in time, and those scenes were painful to watch. It really hurt the timing of the film and hurt some of the comedy of the film. However, the comedy did manage to shine through more often then not.

Samberg played his character very well with all of its odd little ticks and quirks. The rest of the characters while interesting weren't great and felt like some of them, at least, had been borrowed from various SNL skits past and present. However, this is a comedy and the supporting characters were able to help support a lot of the laughs and create a few good ones themselves.

Overall this doesn't even rate as a good "popcorn" film (through this in for you Yoda I hadn't made a reference in a little bit), but if you like comedies a lot, it isn't one that you want to pass up as it does have some great comedy moments.

Overall Grade: C
Acting: C+
Story: C+
Audio/Visual: C (I loved the use of eighties hair metal thoughout the film)

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I must be getting old...hell, I am getting old!
At any rate, I hated Hot Rod.

Just not funny for me.

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Thanks Gnut but i may give this one a miss :yup:

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Cashback

This film is a prototypical art house film in that it is character/idea driven as well as has a fair amount of gratuitous nudity in it. And it has another important art house aspect, for the most part it is a depressing film.

What works well in this film is the interplay between the character and the idea in the film. It helps that I am a romantic and how it deals with the depressing aspects of love, but I like the abstract way in which the main character deals with beauty and love. It is really disturbing on most levels, but very fascinating to see into the character.

The one idea that I think this film tries to make, or at least tries to slip in a couple of times whether or not it agrees with it is up for debate, is the idea of beauty being connected to love. I'm not sure if this is a pure connection between beauty and love, or the idea that what is found beautiful is often easier to love, but the amount of talk about beauty does seem to imply that some of the characters fail to see a difference between beauty and love.

This film relies very heavily on voice over, which can become a bit pretentious at times in that the narration, while complimenting the film, is so heavily used. There are some points in time where it is possible to see into the characters mind and come out with the voice over, without it actually being said. However, with all of that said, the voice over does not detract from the film.

Overall this was a film that I enjoyed a lot. Even with it having a happy ending, it was a very well done film about the ideas in the film, not so much about the plot. The plot moved along entertainingly enough that it didn't take away from the ideas as well, so they complimented each other nicely.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: B
Story: A
Audio/Visual: A

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It doesn't surprise me that people don't like this film. Like I said it was pretty hit or miss in it humor, but there were enough parts that I found humorous that I at least somewhat appreciated it. I have a feeling that a 3.5 from me is probably about the same as a 1.5 from most other people. If I get any enjoyment out of a film, I consider it a good thing. And I have a feeling that most of the people on this forum could give it a miss and feel like they haven't missed a thing, and I generally would have given it a miss as well, but Andy Samberg's digital shorts are the only good thing going for SNL right now, so I figured, why not give it a try.

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Welcome to the Jungle

I would start out by saying something good about this film. But the only thing that I can potentially come up with is that all of the main characters died since they were awful characters. But that isn't even a good thing since their deaths were pathetic, the closest thing to a good death was when you see one guy get clubbed over the head.

Now for the bad in the film. First off for Yoda I'll point out that it was all shot in shaky cam. trying to become the next Blair Witch type movie, and failing miserably. Even with all of the night scenes they didn't even use the night vision on the camera meaning that you saw basically nothing, and it loses basically anything/everything that could potentially be scary.

Also it was a very poorly scripted "unscripted" film. They tried to make it feel like it was just footage from the camera that was raw and that this actually happened. However, the "natural" dialog sounded like it was a bad MTV scripted reality show. It was extremely painful to watch them attempt to speak.

Now, I reviewed another bad horror film in Black Sheep that was just funnily bad (and I believe intentionally so), this one wasn't that sort of bad. This one was, punch self in face while watching movie bad. It was boring to watch with a first act that lasted three-quarters of the movie, a second act lasting the last quarter and no third act (thankfully).

Overall, I would recommend taking ones own eye out with an ice pick before watching this film. The only reason that I sat through the whole film was because I was watching it at a friends place, and I didn't feel like getting up and leaving half way through the film (too tired/lazy).

Overall Grade: F-
Acting: F
Story: F------
Visual/Audio: F--

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looks like i will give this a miss also :yup:

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The Incredibles

I just saw this movie again on TV over Thanksgiving, and as I am currently at work and bored at work, I figured that I might as well toss up a review about it.

Overall, I think that this is one of the best 3D modelled animations that I have seen done. It doesn't have the same level of historical significance as a movie like Toy Story does being the first really solid and entertaining, while being very crisp visually, 3D modelled animations, but I think the story and presentation of it are on a level higher then that of most other films in that style. I am going to specify this style of film as the 3D modelling that is not supposed to look realistic (or at least more so) that has been done in a fair number of films recently with CGI, green screen, etc.

What I think makes this story is the diversity of characters. Characters like Edna 'E' Mode are very unique and funny to watch. But not every character is simply this crazy off the wall character, there is some semblance of reality mixed in with the madness of being in a completely fictional world. There are "real world" issues that the family is dealing with, such as Helen wondering what her husband is up to when he leaves all of the time for "business trips", or Violets troubles at school, even the squabble at the dinner table is realistic to a point between brother and sister. It is a superhero film that isn't purely about the explosions and action (being 3D modelling maybe saves it from being like that) but does have some "heart" to it.

I think if they had done this live action, people would end up being caught up so much more in the action and explosions and the powers that the characters have, that they would fail to realize the good "family" message behind the film (probably still lost most of the time). But the 3D modelling, since you really can have the characters do anything, means that some of the "wow factor" from the action, etc. isn't there as much.

Overall, I think this is one of the best 3D modelling films. I feel like it is made so that it can be entertaining to people of any age where as previous 3D modelled films, like Toy Story, have treated themselves like animation and followed along the idea that animation/cartoons are for kids and therefore they don't have that level at which older people can enjoy them as much as The Incredibles does.

Overall Grade: A-
Acting: N/A
Story: A
Audio/Visuals: A-

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The three year old I baby sit loves it :yup: so do I :blush: Thanks for your review :)

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Pitch Black

Most of the time I wonder why movie companies think making films with Vin Diesel are a good idea, and every now and again there is a decent one with him in it. This would be one of those. But then again this film is really right up my alley in that it has sci-fi elements to it while having a creature horror feature feel to it as well.

What makes Vin Diesel work in this role is that it isn't an extremely demanding role when it comes to emotions and showing them. He does a solid job of playing the hardnosed, emotionless, killer in the film, and pulls it off very well.

The rest of the cast around him does a good job as well. I was impressed with the fact that they didn't have everyone who you would expect survive actually survive. To me having some elements/events that are unpredictable really helps out the story in a film. Even though the ending was predictable on the simpliest level, in that some of the people escape the creatures, it wasn't completely predictable in who survived and how it reached that point.

Another thing that works in this film, or at least that I appreciated I can see people disliking this, is the variety of perspectives that the film is shot from. Such as when it is shot from the view point of Riddick (Vin Diesel's character) or the view point of the creatures. The variety in how they did that made it interesting to watch in that the shots aren't plain and simple point of view shots, but actually to define some of what the character/creature is seeing. That just adds depth to the character, and interest to the creatures.

Overall this isn't some deep and profound sci-fi movie with some amazing idea that it trumpets that has never been done before. There are themes running through the film of caring and compassion, etc., but all of those have been done before. The main thing that this film is, is a solid blending of sci-fi and creature feature, into an entertaining, somewhat suspenseful movie.

Overall Grade: B
Acting: B
Story: B
Audio/Visual: B

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Passion of the Christ

This movie I found to be interesting. In some ways it is profound because it doesn't have a warm/nice feel about it like Christians attempt to portray in church, in other ways it really wasn't that great a film.

I don't mind the fact that it was all in subtitles, which I am sure bugged some non-movie people, but it was fitting in that it was a period peice. So I thought that the film had that going for it.

I also thought that the portrayels in the film were solid. Nothing extremely amazing, but not all that terrible. And for a film that, you can't have bad performances, otherwise it completely subverts anything that the film is trying to do.

One of the things that bugged me a little is how strongly Roman Catholic (and extremely conservative Roman Catholic) it was. There were definite undertones with how some of the characters were portrayed, and all of the stops that aligned with Roman Catholic tradition. I felt like someone who knows about those, would see it as subverting what the film was trying to do.

But the big thing about this film is how grim and violent the film was. Unlike the normal Christian message which makes sure to talk about the good that came from this and what happens afterwards, Mel Gibson's telling of it focused so much on the violence and suffereing that it really under cut parts of what the actual message of the film should be.

Overall this was a film that was well made, but I think little more then that. It wasn't a profound retelling when you step back and look at it, and the only way it really would effect someone is through the violence and relying on that to play upon most people instincts to want to help/feel pity for someone who is suffering.

Overall Grade: C
Acting: C
Story: C
Audio/Visual: B

Re: The Gnat: Fly on the Wall Reviews
 

thanks

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Dracula: Dead and Loving It

This film I felt was disappointing for a Mel Brooks film (whose films I normally enjoy a lot) with how it parodied Dracula (which I enjoyed a lot). There was little that caught my attention all that quickly, and the laughs were too far between so it lost my attention fairly quickly as well.

Normally I enjoy a good parody, but in this case, it seemed to fall flat a lot of the time. The pacing was too slow and even the performance by Brooks in the film wasn't that great. Leslie Nielsen also, while giving a typical performance, wasn't any spectacular in the film.

The story itself was crafted fine in that it kept fairly closely to the actual workings of the story Dracula, but the humor that was attempted to be interjected didn't work. The jokes often fell fairly flat or were too random to be all that entertaining. There definitely were high points where jokes were hit on that were very funny, but for the most part, these jokes really didn't help out the film that much.

Overall this was a disappointing film. It wasn't a terrible parody, but when coming from Mel Brooks I definitely expected something that was funnier and more entertaining. Not one that I would highly recommend, but it does have a few good laughs in it.

Overall Grade: C
Story: C-
Acting: C-
Audio/Visual: C+

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Me too, thanks for the review :)

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As a welcome to Becs and because her welcome post reminded me of it, I have a new review to do:

Bend it like Beckham

This really is a guilty pleasure movie for me in that I can't think of anything earth shattering about it or any great performances in it. I just find this movie pretty entertaining more then anything else. Also, having Keira Knightley in a film never really hurts the film in my opinion.

I think the story is a good one for a film. It isn't a great story with a lot of hidden depth, but it definitely is a solid story in the message that it is trying to reach of going for your dreams, especially focused at the female community. But it doesn't just stop there as the main characters father does return to living a life that he wants to live as compared to the one that society and culture had pushed him into.

There are a few goofy parts, like both girls falling for their coach as part of the "conflict", the social conflict would have been enough to make this an entertaining film without having to try and build in some of the romance. It wasn't poorly done, but compared to the main conflict and story in the film, it wasn't a needed side story.

Another thing about this film is that while there were no great acting performances there were also no terrible acting performances. Too often in this type of film there ends up being a character or two that is so extremely odd or so extremely over the top that it kills anything good that the movie might have going for it.

Overall this is a popcorn type of film. Nothing great about it, but a simple story in a simple film that doesn't try and be too much. Definitely a pop corn film in my opinion (or a guilty pleasure film, but all films with Keira Knightley are that for me).

Overall Grade: B
Story: B+
Acting: C+
Audio/Visual: B-

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The Hole

This is a very odd film. It is based off of a book by the same name, and I saw/read them in the order of the movie and then the book. And the book is notably better, even though the movie wasn't terrible. The basic premise is there are four people who are trapped in an old bomb shelter for a week or a little bit less and three of them end up dead and it is an attempt by a detective to peice together what actually happened down there because the survivor is in too much shock and horror to actually be much help.

The story works pretty well for the film. In both the film and the book, they really don't try and hide the twist of what is going to happen all that much, but instead it is more about the psycological play between the detective and the survivor. The story is crafted better in the book even though the film doesn't stray too far away from the plot of the book. I think the biggest difference is with the added use of the sense of sight, it becomes easier to pick up the on subleties in the film of what is going to happen and what is going on, as compared to the book.

Also, Thora Birch's portayel of the survivor also lends itself to being able to figure out the twist as the mannerisms and mindset of her character really come across on the screen as something that helps define the end of the film. The other acting in the film is solid. It is a teen film so there aren't any strongly established actors and actresses (at that point in their career) in it, even though Keira Knightley does play one of the four people trapped in the bomb shelter.

Overall this is a pretty average movie. There isn't anything great abot it, there isn't much all that bad about it. It was entertaining, and I liked it more then most people probably would because of the psychological aspect being the dominant aspect. I tend to appreciate jacked up characters, like there are in this film.

Overall Grade: B
Acting: B
Story: B+
Audio/Visuals: B-

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The Muppet Christmas Carol

In the spirit (all puns intended) of the season, I figured that I would review this retelling of the classic Dicken's tale A Christmas Carol. This retelling of it is very entertaining and fun to watch, and very well done.

One interesting thing about this adaptation of it, as compared to a lot of pseudo adaptation is that this one is very accurate to the story. Granted in Dicken's verision there weren't puppets and musical numbers, or a puple creature narrating it, but it is more accurate in the actual story, not leaving out commonly left out details (mainly with what the third ghost shows Scrooge).

Another thing that is done extremely well in this is the added dialog and humor thrown in throughout the film. Obviously as it is the muppets it is expected to have some odd humor to it, and they didn't force/add the humor in poorly in the film. It flowed in with the characters and the pacing, not undercutting what goes on the actual story, but accenting it with humor points.

Overall there is little poor about this film. It isn't a high quality film that is has revolutionized the film industry in any way, but it is a very entertaining film and one of the better Christmas films in my opinion. I tend not to like many Christmas films because of how absurdly hokey they end up being.

Overall Grade: B+
Acting: B-
Story: A-
Audio/Visual: B+

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A History of Violence

I went into this film expecting it to be a solid film, and while it had its moments, I felt that it was a disappointing film more then not. And I may shock some of you by comparing it to Spiderman 3 further along in my review, but so be it.

What I like about the film is the idea in the film. The idea of creating the new persona and living it out like the previous one didn't even exist and being something and someone completely different. I think the idea is something that is very interesting, albeit not all that well pulled off in this film. There are some scenes, like the first scene with between Viggo Mortensen's character (Tom Stall) and Ed Harris' character (Carl Fogerty) in the diner. I thought that one was very good and telling about the character and interactions between the characters. However, there were equally as many forced scenes that tried to get this idea across and those really dragged down the movie.

One thing that I didn't like about this movie was the plethera of characters and the sub-plots that went along with these characters that really didn't do anything to advance the main plot of the film. There were several scenes with Stall's son in the film that really didn't make any sense or add anything to the film. The whole series of interactions at school were rather pointless. It felt like they were mixing in a little teen drama with the rest of the story, and the combination of genres were at a head in this film. And there were other scenes that really didn't make sense or add anything to the story. The whole cheerleader outfit sex scene seemed like something that was thrown in just in order to have a romance scene at that point. The set up for it and the idea of it though was a separate tangent that could have been better worked out in the film.

And besides being random the scenes that were meant to move the story forward didn't do so for the most part as there were some scenes that progressed but then simply slipped back to where they were before. When Stall's wife visits him at the hospital after his second trip there, she literally is sick at the sight of him and what has been going on because of him. But then in the first scene back from the hospital (or coming back from a police station) she covers for him and seems to have no qualms doing so. These mood swings in the film don't work well in that they don't actually progress the story but instead leave it sitting there stuck in neutral.

Finally for my comparison with Spiderman 3. This film runs into the same problem as Spiderman 3 in that it has to many bad guys that are too seperate from one another. We meet two at the beginning and we assume that they are going to carry some weight throughout the whole film, but the next scene we see them in, they die. Then Fogarty comes along, he has a nice run of about half the film, and then he dies. Then Ricky comes along, and he is there for about a scene, and he dies. Spiderman 3 does this as well, except for the fact that Spiderman 3 at least has one giant battle at the end. In this film the villains are little more then blips on a radar and really don't do much to frighten the viewer as they are there are gone.

One final good thing about the film though is that it doesn't end with a perfect "Hollywood ending", it seems to set itself up for one (which is a little disappointing in my book), but it never actually reaches that point. It definitely is set up for reconciliation, but it is clear that there is going to be a lot of time and struggles to reach a happy ending.

Overall this is a subpar film. It tries to do to much with introducing to many villains and to many sub-plots that neither the villains or the sub-plots are properly filled out. The idea is there, and it is a good one, the execution of it though is very poor.

Overall Grade: C-
Story: D
Acting: C+
Audio/Visual: B-