Category: Movies

Lost in Translation stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. I should declare in advance that I’m a Bill Murray fan. He’s starred in some of my favourite films of all time, and he does really well in this film. He’s very funny, but plays it serious where he has to. He does a great job of putting over the utter bewilderment of a fish out of water. Scarlett Johansson is good too, and they play well off eachother. The film isn’t laugh a minute, but all the better for it. When I came out I wasn’t quite sure of the point, but a froiend poined out that there isn’t really a point. There’s a story, beginning, middle, and end, which shows a relationship.. I think I was trying to read the whole thing too deeply.
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American Splendor stars Paul Giamatti.
I’m not sure what to say about this film. It’s good. It didn’t move me greatly, or show me anything or hugely entertain me. It’s an homage to the comics of Harvey Pekar, telling his life story, and that of the comics, with acting interspersed with interviews. It’s interesting, and probably a must for fans of the comic. I’m not going to rate it because any rating would be unfait ofr dishonest.

The Last Samurai stars Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. An American army officer learns the ways of the Samurai in the late 1800s.

I have to say in advance that I have something irrational against Tom Cruise. It’s beyond reason, but it’s there. Havin said that I really enjoyed this film. It was well told and, after a few slightly jarring CG scenes towards the beginning, totally sweeps you away with te story. The ending does the movie justice, and doesn’t jar with the spirit and message of the movie. It is quite bloody, but not too gory.
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Out of Time stars Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes. Denzel washington is framed for a crime, and, during the investigation, has to steer the other investigators away from himself.

I did like this film – I wasn’t sure for a while, but I did. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good film, but there’s something that doesn’t ring true. It’s a tense drama in places, but then it’s backed with upbeat music. It’s the fine line between breaking the tension and just weirding me out. I kept thinking it should have been in black and white, with someone like Jimmy Stewart in the main role. It was worth the money.
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Matrix Revolutions. What can I say. If you liked the second one, you’ll like this one, if not, you probably won’t.
There’s a lot less action inside the matrix, and a lot more in the real world, but the pace doesn’t slow. If anything, it increases. There’s less of the long-winded philosophy of the second film. and the effects are really good – not as opey as the yard-fght scene in reloaded, where a lot of it was obvious cgi.
I rate movies according to my expectations of them. If I expect to like them, and I do, they do well.
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In America is all about a family of Irish Immigrants in modern day New York.
It’s really good – the adults are good and the kids are great. Not all of it’s great, but it’s well worth seeing.
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Intolerable Cruelty Stars George Clooney as a divorce attorney and Catherine Zeta-Jones as a serial divorcee.
This was great. I’ve seen a lot of people saying that the Coen brothers have lost their sting, but I don’t see that at all. I wasn’t sure about the ending, which is probably keeping this film from the score it might otherwise have had, but there are lots of brilliant pieces of laugh-out-loud dialog in this, as well as one (literally) killer moment of physical comedy. This movie is well worth watching!
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Down With Love stars Renee Zelwegger, Ewan McGregor and David Hyde Pierce.

Apparently this movie plays off some Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies from the 60s. Although I like older films. I haven’t seen any of these specific ones, so I’m sure I missed things. That’s the only explanation I can give for how little I enjoyed this film. I mean 6 people (from an audience of about 30) walked out before the film was over. That can’t be good. There are good bits in it, and the central story is interesting enough, but the pastiche of older stuff is just overdone.
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Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003) stars Reese Witherspoon.
Within 10 Seconds I was asking myself – “What’s happening?” I enjoyed the first film a lot – it was a lot of fun, bright and bubbly, exactly the way ot looked. This one has killed the series.
The beginning is what does the most damage. The original had a cheery song, lots of colour and excitement. This one has three girls swooning over a photograph album to be given as a wedding present, but just in voice over. Most of the shots are screencaps from the first movie, which are obviously not actual photoraphs, and there is no warmth or fun to the start. After that, well, it never really gets going. There are a couple of decent bits, and huge amounts of really bad green-screen work, but the way it’s been put together has robbed it of any fun or spontaneity. There were the makings of a good movie here, but they ever had a chance
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The Four Feathers stars Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Djimon Hounsou and Kate Hudson.
This is a good old fashioned movie. I don’t mean just because the action takes place in the 1800s, but just that it’s a good story well told. It is a remake of an older film, but it has been well made, with good performances (and good accents). It may not show the full brutality and stupidity of the British position in the empire, but it shows some of it. It’s longer than two hours, but the story keeps going at a decent pace almost all of the way through. I really enjoyed it.
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