I’ve seen a number of movies lately, but none of them (with one exception) has inspired more than a few brief sentences of discussion. So, here they are:
The Bad Lieutinenant: Port of Call New Orleans
The story of a gamabling and drug-addicted cop in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating five murders. Sounds simple enough, but if you know anything about the director Werner Herzog, you know he doesn’t do anything simple. This movie plays out like a dream. You know, the kind where you start out at home and wind up hanging naked from a billboard while a group of horses cheer you on below and Godzilla watches in amusement from afar. When you wake up you’re not exactly sure what it means, but it was awesome. The film is well shot and well acted, and the story actually plays out coherently enough, but somewhere down the path things just get weird. Then the get weirder. And for some reason it makes sense. Cage is epic, delivering maybe his most over-the-top performance to date, if nothing else it’s worth seeing for that alone.
2012
At this point I’m pretty sure Roland Emmerich is just remaking his own films. It’s almost like watching someone go through their own personal hell, where they not only repeat the same mistakes they made previously, but somehow manage to aplify them. Other than a few decent looking set pieces there wasn’t much to enjoy here. But, if the world ever does end, I’m sticking with Cusack, dude’s got killer luck.
The Tooth Fairy
Seriously, NEVER watch this movie.
Edge of Darkness
It’s nice see Mel Gibson kicking bad guy butt again, but the plot here is paper thin and feels like something out of the 80’s (no surprise, seeing as how it’s a remake of a 1985 BBC miniseries). There’s a baffling death-by-car moment and an even more baffling ending, but outside of that it’s a fine movie, worth a rental at least.
From Paris With Love
This could very well be the worst movie I’ve ever seen. But, I can’t be sure because I still don’t understand exactly what I was watching.
The Surrogates/Cop Out
Oh Bruce Willis, what happened? The Surrogates feels like a SyFy Channel original film, only with movie stars instead of soap opera stars. Actually, I’ve seen SyFy movies with better plots than this. As for Cop Out? Well, the title says it all I think. I’m a huge Kevin Smith fan, but I have a hard time finding anything redeeming here. It feels like it was directed by a pot head (it was) and written by 12yr olds (it wasn’t).
Funny People
Late to the party on this one, I know. I understand all the mixed reviews the film got after seeing it, it’s kind of a mess. But, it mostly works. The comedy is funny and the drama is moving, but it’s a tad too long and we needed to see more of the ancillary characters I think. As soon as I get the time I plan on rewatching it, and I might revisit it here.
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
I unapologetically love this movie. It’s hysterical and action-packed. It achieves what From Paris With Love tried so desperately to pull off. Loads of plot twists, crazy characters, lots of gun play and a giant dose of camp. I’m not sure fans of the first film understood what Duffy was trying to do here, and that’s a shame. This is just a fun movie. I’m looking forward to watching the two as a double feature.
Daybreakers
I really wanted to like this movie, and there are parts that work really well, but overall it just didn’t gel. I think Willem DeFoe gives a great cheese-filled performance and Sam Neill is great as the main baddie. There are some brilliant moments highlighting the ins and outs of living in a world controlled by vampires, but it loses a lot of momentum at the end.
Short Cuts
A movie that showcases everything I dig about Robert Altman, unfortunately it has a lot of what I dislike about the man and his style as well. I’d originally wanted to write this up as a full blog post, but I couldn’t put anyhting coherent together. Which, come to think of it, would be kind of fitting for this flick. Well acted and mostly enjoyable, but far too long and meddling. It’s like Lost without the really interesting parts.
Alice in Wonderland
It’s been a few weeks since I watched this, so I’m not freash on a lot of the details. I will say I enjoyed it more than Burton’s take on Willy Wonka. It also has what the Star Wars prequel films lacked (odd comparison, I know), the CGI characters here have a lot of heart to them. They don’t feel like action figures come to life, they feel like genuine characters. Alice, however, is like a card board cutout.
How to Train Your Dragon
Go see this movie. Then go see it again. It’s freaking amazing. Eventually I’ll write a full post on it, I just waiting for my head to come down out of the clouds.
The Fourth Kind
A movie where actors admit, on screen, that they’re performing a dramatization of events that supposedly happened. Events involving alien abductions. Add to that we get to see the “real” footage of these people played alongside the dramatized clips, essentially making you watch the same thing twice. And, then you Google the movie and find out what you already knew; the “real” footage is as fake as the fake footage, making this the biggest waste of freaking time I’ve ever encountered.
Triangle
Now, this is very much a SyFy Channel original movie, but it’s much better than it has any right to be. If you’re into movies that screw with your mind (Donnnie Darko, Memento) then this is something you should watch. If not, well, avoid it.
