Summer Movie Round-Up (or Fall DVD previews)

Well, I didn’t get to have much of a summer break (because I ruptured my Achilles Tendon – where have you been?) but I did get to see a lot of the summer (and spring) movies.  Here’s my break-down from best to worst.

Iron Man – previously mentioned that one here.  Great, great, great.  Good acting, special effects, story, everything.  Just what a summer movie should be.

Hancock – Will Smith is summer movies.  He does a great job here.  So does Jason Bateman – could anyone not like him?  I miss Arrested Development!!!  You need to see Hancock.  Great story.  Very well done movie.

Hell Boy 2 – probably the biggest surprise of the summer.  Really, really good show.  Good story.  Interesting characters.  Funny, full of action.  Sleeper hit for me.

The Dark Knight – pretty dark movie but actually very good.  Another must see especially if you liked the first Christian Bale Batman.  Was the Joker an Oscar worthy performance?  No, but good.

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan – WOW!!  I didn’t expect anything from this Adam Sandler vehicle but was I ever pleasantly surprised.  It was genuinely funny.  It had a number of laugh out loud moments and the story was okay.  Well worth a watch.

Transsiberian – a Woody Harrelson pic.  A good one.  A real, sleeper must-see.  Very Hitchcockian.  Look for it.  Watch it.

Wanted – Another kind-of surprise to me.  I expected to dislike this one as just a fluffy action movie churned out for the summer crowd.  It was, but it was also very watchable.  I enjoyed it.

Kung-Fu Panda – I admit it, I like Jack Black.  This kid’s movie was pretty entertaining but was really a kid’s show.  I’m pretty smart.  I picked up on that right away.

Indiana Jones 4 – nothing special here.  Take it or leave it.  Better yet, watch Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Wall – E –I guess it was okay.  There wasn’t any dialogue for like the first 45 minutes.  Actually, the show kind of drove me nuts but I think kids like it.

The Incredible Hulk – Ed Norton does an okay job.  Tim Roth does an okay job.  But the story is boring and the abomination isn’t right and doesn’t show up early enough in the movie.  I’m also tired of superhero types who whine about it.

Chronicles of Naria 2 – dark, complicated.  Who is the audience for this stuff?  Not kids.  Not me.  And I read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe over and over as a kid.

The Love Guru – I was so disapointed in Mike Myers.  What a waste of time.  Maybe one or two parts will make you smile.  The rest – ugh.

The Happening – maybe the biggest disapointment of the summer for me.  Dumb story, bad acting, and awful ending.  Real waste of time.

P.S.

Baby Mama – This was an early Spring release and out on DVD pretty soon but you NEED to see this.  Great chemistry in the actors.  Great story.  Awesome writing.  Fantastic show.  I laughed so hard I wanted to stop the show because I thought I would miss more funny stuff.

 

Guess that’s it.  There’s a few others I haven’t gotten to yet (like Step-Brothers) so I’ll let you know after I see them.  I’ve seen almost everything so if you ever want my opinion on a film – just ask.

Enjoy.

The Happening – HUGE DISAPOINTMENT

I try to remain an M. Night Shymalan fan.  I loved Signs and Sixth Sense.  I enjoyed Unbreakable.  I didn’t mind Lady in the Water.  The Village wasn’t great.  And now The Happening.  I was really excited to see this one.  I had such expectations.

And it was awful.

The premise was slightly okay but really over done.  In the end, even the premise didn’t make a lot of sense.  It won’t give anything away to say people were, for some reason, motivated to kill themselves and many chose to do so in obvious, graphic, and foolish ways.  That doesn’t fit the movie at all.  It was so pointless.

And the acting was bad.  The writing was bad.  The movie was really short – which maybe was a good thing.

Wow.  I was so upset.  I wanted to enjoy it.  I can’t say anything else.  Go see Iron Man.

The NS Tattoo

So for Canada Day my family and I went to the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.

It was very patriotic.  Very grand.  Very nice.  I give it a solid 6 / 10.  You should see it, at least once.

But, boy was it long.  Whew.  Long.

And they had three “singers” who showed up more than any other act (3 or 4 times) to screech and scream at us poor audience members.  The singing was unbelievable.  If you like warbling voices and screaming it was awesome.  If you prefer any other style of singing – not so good.

But some of the other acts were fantastic.  Really well worth checking on.

But it sure is long.  Remember that.  I think it was 36 hours in total.   Mind you it had 14 intermissions but still – 36 hours?

WII FIT

So what does a psychologist and sort-of author do in his spare time.  I play the Wii of course.

The Wii arrived in our house as a Christmas present last year.  Ostensibly, it was for my kids.  However, dad has spent a little time enjoying it as well.

I must say that I’ve been consistently impressed with it.  The motion controls, selection of games, online applications and play (including having access to internet browsing right from the TV).  Basically, it is pretty cool and a nice distraction.

So I managed to luck into getting one of the new Wii Fit things – this is the “exercise” game that comes with the Wii Balance Board.  The Board is really just a sophisticated scale that functions as an extra controller.  It’s actually really fun.  Skiing, yoga, strength training, and keeping track of everything as you go.  It’s quite good.  I’ve only had it for a few days but I’m pretty solidly hooked.

The only down side?  I’m now officially fat.  Everyone else in my family was in the normal range (when the Wii checked out your fitness stats).  After the Balance Board weighed me and got my height it announced to the room that I was overweight.  That hurt.  I need to lose somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds so it isn’t a lost cause but I was sure that I would squeak into the upper end of normal.  Oh well.

Funny Games

Here’s a great BUT VERY DISTURBING movie.

Starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth as a nice couple heading out to their summer home with their son – the movie soon takes a dark twist when a pair of psychopathic, preppie teens starts to terrorize them.  The movie is very dark, very raw.  There are also some twists at the end that should break the suspension of disbelief but only serve to create more tension (I won’t give away what I mean).

Anyway, I recommend having a look at this one.  It will leave a chill down your back.  Not a typical Hollywood film (but therein lies the point).

Preston & Child: Book of the Dead

I recently started reading Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s book Book of the Dead.  It’s kinda of a continuation of a storyline that includes Agent Pendergast and crew.  I’ve liked almost everything these guys have done, either as a pair or solo.  A recent book from Child, Deep Storm, was great.  I really want to read the new Preston one, Blasphemy.

But Book of the Dead didn’t hook me.  I got halfway thru and barely anything had happened.  I’ll finish it sometime but you know a book hasn’t got when you don’t give it a second thought at times when you aren’t reading.  Unlike the book that replaced it as my current read – Preston’s BLASPHEMY!!

Semi-Pro

Oh No!  I love Will Ferrell.  Kicking and Screaming is one of my favourite comedies.  But Semi-Pro wasn’t that good.  It’s a basketball comedy with Will Ferrell as the coach/owner of an ABA team in the 1970s who are trying to get merged into the NBA.  They have to win games and put people in the stands in order to do it.  The movie is slow and only rewards with a few funny bits. 

If you want to see something really funny you must go to Will Ferrell’s comedy website:  www.funnyordie.com  – I guarantee you’ll find stuff that makes you laugh out loud.  Start with the Landlord if you haven’t already seen this classic Ferrell short film.

Iron Man

Looking for a feel-good, seamless, fun summer movie experience.

Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man – perfect.  Fun, good story, great special effects – seamless.  I can’t say enough about how fun and entertaining this movie is.  You’d have to be a real snob not to sit back with your popcorn and just take it all in.

Go, pay the $15, and see this movie.

Anamorph

This is a good example of a movie I don’t like.  It’s a strange detective story with Willem Dafoe as the lead detective.  There’s a few other interesting supporting characters but it’s mainly about him.

And what is it about?  Who knows.  That’s why I don’t like it.  The movie tries incredibly hard to be artsy with long, drawn out shots (that don’t build suspense or interest), and overly dramatic close-up shots.  Long periods of silence.  All the characters being disturbed and morose.  It’s a terrible film.

Unfortunately, I watched it through to the end hoping for some type of conclusion.  The film was very consistent in terms of being disapointing right to the start of the final credits.  There is no coherent ending.  Maybe it’s a film you have to watch more than once to understand.   Screw that.

Movies & Books – What I Like

I am an avid consumer of mainstream entertainment – mainly books and movies.  I’ve almost always got a book on the go and generally watch a number of movies every week.

My preference for books generally does not line up with so-called “literary” fiction.  I enjoy action/thriller/mystery type books.  I particularily enjoy stories that combine elements of real mysteries or scientific facts with a fictional storyline.  Some of my favourite authors include Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (together or separate), Michael Crichton, James Siegal, and, at times, Dean Koontz (especially a couple of his newer books).

As for movies, I watch a bit of everything.  I enjoy movies that aren’t overly heavy or dramatic and I generally refuse to watch musicals.  I’ve enjoyed most of M. Night Shymalan’s films with “Signs” being one of my favourite films overall. 

Check back to this blog category often for new reviews or comments.