Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Young Victoria


It's initially hard to wrap your head around all the names and faces since they throw them at you pretty fast, but once things settle in its an interesting bio-pic stuffed full of lush production design and costumes. Emily Blunt is luminous in the title role and the supporting cast is very good. The musical score is also rousing, highlighting the grand moments while making everything feel like we were there, watching Victoria herself take the crown. I very much enjoyed this movie, maybe because I'm a sucker for period pieces, but I feel it's well constructed and acted enough to make the flaws seem inconsequential. It is slow at parts, but I was never bored. It isn't quite one of my favorites of 2009, but it is darn close.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Nine


An entertaining musical with a great cast. It does have problems of consistency when going from drama to music & dance, but it is still effective in capturing the mood of the story. The movie does lack heft in some of the scenes that don't involve music, although Daniel Day-Lewis is very good in the role. Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz also impress because we care for their characters despite the limited amount of time they get on screen. The musical numbers aren't fantastic, but they are decent and nicely staged. They do feel like an add-on to the movie though. I was more interested in Guido and his rise and fall relationship with cinema than I was with his struggles pertaining to lots of women. I feel as though the parts about cinema are stronger than the others. The movie is a little bit too long, mainly because I felt the musical numbers were forgettable even while still being entertaining, but Nine is worth your time if you want to watch attractive actors & actresses strut around in musical number for 2 hours. The tone of the movie is quite depressing though, so it sucks some of the fun out of it.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Legion


A cheesy B movie with lackluster special effects, hokey dialogue, and mediocre action sequences. The premise is initially intriguing, but they way it is handled squanders any potential the film had. The acting is also pretty much a joke except for Paul Bettany, who brings credibility to most roles. It is, however, a pretty darn entertaining movie for all of its missteps. It has a rushed climax and the movie feels constrained and small in scope compared to where the story is trying to go, but it does have some B movie charm. It won't be everyone's style and it will probably be hard for quite a few to appreciate, but its a decent time if you know what you are in for. It is not a good movie, though.

The Descent Part 2


A disappointing sequel where all the ideas and intriguing aspects of the original are scrapped in favor of more gore, more action, and pointless character cameos that ruin the story of the first movie. It's a pointless sequel that kind of ruins my fond memories of the first one. Everything that was beautiful and haunting about the first movie has been turned into murky, disgusting cinema and cheap looking special effects. I guess the only good things I have to say about this movie are that I wasn't bored while watching it and it was competently acted.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Five Minutes of Heaven


A movie worth the 90 minutes invested, even when the movie starts to get slow towards the end and builds to a conclusion that doesn't satisfy in all regards. The acting is great and we understand the pain both of these characters have gone through since the killing occurred. For those that don't know, the movies about the meeting of 2 individuals, one whom killed the others older brother in Northern Ireland when the Catholics and Ulster Volunteer Force were fighting and riots were everywhere and everyday.

The movie takes place 30 years later when they are both grown men (Liam Neeson plays the killer, who was 17 at the time, and James Nesbitt plays the victim, who was 11 at the time). James Nesbitt's character witnessed the whole thing and looked the killer straight in the eyes when it happened. The killer didn't know it was the brother, or he says he probably would have killed him too (this is said by Liam Neeson during a monologue). The mom blames the little kid for not stopping the killer, even though there was nothing he could really do. This is what hurts him the most. They are to meet on a television program and hopefully reconcile in front of everyone.

There's a very good build up to this point, and what happens may surprise you a little bit. The movie loses steam a little towards the end when it gets really talky, but it is great until then. The roles are even reversed, with Liam Neeson playing the torn character hoping to be set free of his guilt, while James Nesbitt just wants to kill him for revenge, no matter what it cost him. The movie also does a great job of getting you to sympathize with both characters at once, since they aren't in the same scene together (or room for that matter). It isn't a must see movie, but one I can definitely recommend.

Monday, May 10, 2010

It's Complicated


Not wholly unenjoyable, but nothing to write home about either. It'll pass the time, but you'll likely forget about it in a week. It's got a few funny moments, but it's fairly predictable in that area and in its plot and focus. The performances are solid though and enliven the predictability. John Krasinski was probably the funniest. It's easy to see why this movie got decently popular. It's comes out of the Nancy Meyer factory. Her movies are like bibles for middle-aged loners trying to find their way through life, which apparently people find funny (I don't). Whether or not that appeals to you is uncertain, but nonetheless have at it if you are interested. It's Complicated is far from a bad movie, I just found it too predictable and a little boring. Romantic comedies are truly in a rut (500 Days of Summer being the exception).

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Iron Man 2


A movie that fails to live up to the hype. There's been a few recent superhero/comic book sequels to surpass an already excellent original (Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight come to mind), but Iron Man 2 is not among them. Not only is it worse than the original, it just wasn't all that much fun. Everything awesome about the first Iron Man movie is gone except for Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (who is great again). The villain sucks and his motivations are uninteresting (never a good sign for this kind of movie) and there is a surprisingly large amount of exposition and dialogue (the one-liners can only take it so far). The action scenes are decent, but nothing spectacular and I felt the special effects were worse than the first movie. The plot also features far too much Avengers and not enough Iron Man. They didn't focus on what they needed to, leaving an unsatisfying feeling. I don't know if there will be an Iron Man 3 before the Avengers, but I kind of hope they get this back on track before then. There's lots of potential still left on the floor.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Lovely Bones


The first 30-45 minutes I enjoyed greatly and was ready to crown this movie one of my favorites of the year, but alas there was still over an hour left in the movie, and that's where things went ugly. As soon as Susie dies and we start getting otherworldly scenes, the movie comes to a grinding halt and I just started having wandering thoughts instead of paying attention. There really was no need for them. I don't feel like anything was gained in terms of plot or character by having them in there. The movie was much more interesting and entertaining when focusing on the killer or the family trauma and the performance given by Stanley Tucci as the killer is chilling and a little mesmerizing. Every time his character was on screen I was riveted. The rest of the cast is solid, if unspectacular. It's really too bad the movie has such tone shifts from family drama, to suspenseful thriller, to outright boringness. There was potential here for greatness, and despite the technical excellence of everything it just doesn't completely satisfy.