georoc01's blog: "movies"

I saw it last Friday on opening day. I did enjoy up, and thought it lived up to the hype in many ways. What I have been hearing today though, seems to be a bit much. Best movie of all time? Not sure I put it up that far. While a batman movie, the star of the story is the joker. We do get a sub plot involving Harvey 'Two Face' Dent that is interesting, but clearly the story revolves around the joker, and Heath Ledger's performance. This version if by far more darker and intense than the Jack Nicholson version. Nicholson's character was over the top. Ledger's version is more psychotic in its portrayal. He is pushing this morality play, trying to bring out the dark side in everyone. No material needs, its more about creating chaos. And its played well. Unlike the Nicholson version, we don't really get a backstory for the character. He just is. The opening scene has the joker robbing a bank. The visuals are much different than its predecessor, batman begins. The movie definitely portrays Chicago as Gotham City, not the virtual Gotham that has the futuristic trains running through it. I recommend seeing it. But I don't see an oscar, unless its awarded as a tribute to Ledger. Most times an actor doesn't win for their best work, but more their most acclaimed. This may be one of those cases.

I went to see it last night. It features Will Smith playing a disguntled superhero. He isn't thought well of, but he saves a PR guy who hatches a plan to solve his reputation problems. Without giving much more of the plot away, I enjoyed the movie. Not a great story, but it was fun, especially I thought at the beginning during his misadventures, many of which were in the trailers prior to the release. My favorite being the one where he saves the whale by throwing it back into the ocean, but takes out a sailboat in the process. In many ways, his misadventures reminded me of Bruce Almighty. The ending is cute enough. I wouldn't recommend a sequel, but it is definitely worth a rental if you skip it in the theater.

Yesterday I went to see the movie Wanted. It stars Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman as the heads of a fraternity of assasins who believe they are killing to maintain world order. There is a young man who is recruited to join the group as his father was a member. The story follows through his training and initial missions. The effects are pretty cool as these people have special abilities like to be able to curve a bullet around an object to hit a target. Its a good movie. I wouldn't call it a must see. Given all of the other movies out right now, I'd hold off on this one and go see something else.

I went to see this movie last night. And as a fan of the comic books and the TV series, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. Better than the Ang Lee version last year. First of all, the CGI. The Hulk looks much more like the one from the comic books. The fight scenes are well done and the interaction with the live actors is very well done. The story is much more true to the comic book version, with ties to the other comics. Its evident with Marvel taking over production of these movies that the tie ins between the films is much stronger than it was in the past when they licensed the characters out to the major studios. Working Bixby and Ferrigno into the movie was a nice touch. I look forward to see how they bring the hulk in with the other comic book characters, as was foreshadowed at the end of the movie.

Went to see this one on Saturday night. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this one. It was good, but not special is the best way I can put it. This is the 4th of the Indiana Jones movies, and I would rank it 3rd, behind the 1st and 3rd one but ahead of #2. It seemed to follow the Indiana Jones formula. Supernatural object, evil country seeks object and Jones comes in to save the day. Gross out scene with creepy critter. Lots of chase scenes. If you like the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one. IF you are looking for something more, look elsewhere.

Went to see this movie yesterday. The sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the story basically follows the book closely and is faithful to the original. In a nutshell, its been a year since the children ended up back in England. Meanwhile in Narnia, hundreds of years have passed. A group of humans called the Telmarines have taken over and driven the Narnians underground. Prince Caspian's story starts with the birth of his nephew. Now that his uncle has a clear hier, its time for him to eliminate Caspian. The Prince flees to forest and calls for help. That call draws the children back to Narnia. The religious overtones of this series continues in this book. If you liked the first movie, you will like this one. I know I did and loved the sequel. In 18 months, Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be released. Can't get here soon enough!

Went to see Iron Man. Its one of the better superhero movies of this genre. Probably the best I have seen since Batman Begins. Robert Downey, Gweneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges are all great in their roles. Its obvious that Favreu is a fan similar to how Raimy is a fan of Spiderman. They stay true to the original storyline. What was neat about the Iron man one was how they updated it for modern day with terrorists in afganistan. It allowed them to show the original primitive suit and the new suit. Looking forward to see if a sequel is in the works. Its a great start to the summer movie season!

I went to see this movie last night. It stars Jason Strathem as a thief who decided to go for his big hit, taking out the Baker Street bank. Based upon a true story, they get more than they bargained for in safety deposit boxes at the bank. Its well done and a definite recommend!

Let me start this by saying that I am a huge fan of the book, 'Bringing Down the House' by Ben Mezrich. I strongly recommend that book for anyone who has been curious about card counting. And in this case, the book version which is closer to the truth than the movie, I think is actually a better story. I didn't think the Lawrence Fishburne character added much to story. If they really wanted to make this into the cat and mouse story they could have, that would have been better if they really wanted to go down that path. Overall, I think it would make a decent rental of HBO movie, but if you are really interested in this topic, check out the book and breaking vegas shows on cable (I think A&E or the History Channel), much better coverage of the topic.