a highly anticipated release in some circles, rent the movie sorely disappoints. i'm not sure if it's because chris columbus did such a bad job directing or if this is just one of those things that can't be translated to the big screen. the singing is fine, the sets are fine, but the whole energy of the musical is missing. if you've seen the musical, avoid this movie (the only reason that i watched this was to see the original cast). if you haven't seen the musical, feel free to watch the movie if you must, but know that this is no substitute for the real thing.the scene with roger in new mexico is laughably bad. laughably.
the writer of the lethal weapons makes his directorial debut with an almost spoof of his patented buddy action flicks. while i found some of the "talk to the audience" narrative to be annoying, those feelings quickly got swept aside by the film's comedic moments. val kilmer is great, robert downey is fine, michelle monaghan is kind of generic, but all in all, for a movie that i'd been highly anticipating, "kiss kiss, bang bang" didn't disappoint. the best part of the movie for me though, might have been the very well done opening credits -- loved the art style.
those english sure are witty. and those accents are to die for. i've never seen the original bbs version of pride & prejudice but if it's better than this version, i can't imagine how. while some may be bothered by the patented "acting" of keira knightley, it's hard to dislike her, especially in this movie. me? i'm a keira fan and the only downside of this movie is the less than attractive mr darcy. the (un)intentional comedy in this movie is hilarious. a must see, for both men and women.
the further adventures of puberty for harry potter and his fellow co-stars. i missed the third harry potter (my favorite book of the series and supposedly the best movie) so it's hard to say if this was the best potter movie. however, it far surpassed the first two films in scope and excitement. basically at this point, you already know if like the potter flicks, nothing about this one will really sway your opinion one way or the other.
to be perfectly honest, i slept through a third of this movie, however, it was pretty good for the parts that i was awake. i'd almost pay to watch the third that i missed but that would just be crazy. the performances are stellar all around and the depiction for the real-life conflict between television newsman edward murrow and senator joseph mccarthy is highly informative. this will probably get some oscar nominations, just because it's "serious" and has "fine" acting.
drawn in by rave reviews and a david cronenberg film being given top billing, i had high hopes for this movie. instead, i sat through much of the movie wondering how viggo mortensen must feel knowing that he looks much better with a beard and appearing unshowered at all times -- while riding a horse or carrying a sword. i found the plot and pacing of the movie to be off-kilter and unbelievable. the premise for the movie was excellent but it just didn't work for me. i expected something deeper and more affecting.
when i first watched this film, i found it to be incredibly hilarious. so good that i'd always kept it in the back of my mind as a perfect rental. well, that perfect rental day came and went. and the verdict on the tao of steve? better then than now. with a good idea and some brilliant moments, tao of steve is still worth watching, but it's no sure-fire winner all the way through. damn it. maybe the expectations were too high this time around, but something was missing on the re-watching. the moral of the story: listen to the tao of steve, don't necessarily watch it.
you don't get more old school than 1940 with cary grant, katharine hepburn, and james stewart. billed to me as "the greatest romantic comedy of all time," the philadelphia story was thoroughly enjoyable until the end, when seemingly unmotivated declarations of love was rampant. aside from that, the zinging wit of the movie was on full display and despite it taking a few minutes for me to find the rhythm of such precisely delivered lines, the movie was excellent...well, until the end.
there's not much to say about the squid and the whale except that it'll probably end up being an overlooked indie film. and that would be sad as the movie is excellent all the way through. a movie about a family struggling through divorce, the squid and the whale presents everything with humor and wit, without desolving into overly sentimental schlop. while the tie-in with the title of the movie seems a bit stretched, i'll forgive them because they actually show the inside of new york's natural history museum.