the prestige

one of the few movies i've been able to look forward to during this crappy fall movie season, the prestige turned out to be finely acted and, for the most part, well constructed. some say that "the illusionist" was better, but i enjoyed this particular magician movie much more than that one. i thought the way christopher nolan did the (to many critics, superfluous) time jumping from scene to scene was seamless. a bit of suspension of disbelief is required but then again, it's about magic: believe or don't believe, enjoy or don't enjoy.

the book version that sounds pretty intriguing. and reading up on the real life nikola tesla is very educational.

man of the year

(we walked in half an hour after the movie had started)
no "wag the dog" or even a "dave," this movie wasn't terrible but there's hardly anything meaningful to say about it. it was semi-funny, semi-skewering, but mostly just floated along with no real impact. it does makes you think about our current political state ("red state, blue state, why can't we just be the united states?") but the provocative moments quickly cut to another one-liner or another scene.

robin williams is likeable though, and i usually find him super annoying.

the departed

inviting inevitable comparisons to the original (infernal affairs), i initially decided that i liked the re-make much better. more exposition, more guns (not necessarily a good thing), more overt moments. however, upon further contemplation, i think the two movies are incomparable. the hong kong version is quieter and more about what you don't see. the departed is brawny, loud, and slams you in the face. both are worthy of viewing but some of scorsese's choices didn't jive with me -- too obvious perhaps. then again, i didn't exactly love infernal affairs at the time either, so maybe i just need to re-watch both films.

moving the setting to boston was great, as it's really the most logical american city to set up this type of tale.

fearless

we anticipate jet li's retirement from kung-fu movies to last about as long as jay-z's "time out" from hip hop. having said that, jet li is pretty decent in this movie. of course, the movie itself is just a hodge podge of kung fu cliches (despite being based on a true story) with some not unexpected plot holes and a general lack of exposition. the fight scenes are above average but nothing breath taking. in the mood for chinese? then watch this movie.

elizabeth

i've been trying to watch elizabeth for years. the oscar hype and awards this film received, plus the many nice things people have said about cate blanchett, seemed to make this movie a winner. once again, the oscars have led me astray. the movie is almost over-dramatic, with too few explanations for what is happening on-screen. without some historical knowledge on the viewer's end, it's very easy to lose the point of the movie. who are all these characters and exactly why is elizabeth surrounded by deception and turmoil? the movie won't tell you, wikipedia will.

sketches of frank gehry

i like to say that gehry is one of my favorite "architects." it's a self-aggrandizing statement. i know, maybe, five architects in total. still, i've always admired gehry's work and would love to see the guggenheim bilbao. i thought this movie would explain gehry's inspiration and methods. instead it made me like gehry less, as it seemed like he did more "found" architecture than anything with a particular vision. magical buildings, not so magical inspirations; the wizard had his curtain pulled.

murderball

i'd avoided this film for a long time because i figured you see one inspirational sports story you'd seen them all. and for the most part, i'm right. however, the characters here are pretty captivating and the stories and circumstances behind their current situation is very interesting. this is not a sports story, as the action scenes obscure the fact that quad rugby seems to be a game with very little defense. however, the film was able to make the players "cool." which is exactly what the participants wanted.

in one of the extras, the jackass crew hang out with some of the murderball stars -- and showing them a hell of a time. as steve-o says (paraphrased), "i'm always one stunt away from being paralyzed myself."