August 1, 2006

  • Movies I've seen recently...

     Scoop (2006)  B

    "Scoop" is a rather entertaining movie, that involves a college journalist (Scarlett Johansson) that is looking for a big story, and finds it courtesy of a dead journalist's ghost (Ian McShane), and the help of an eccentric magician (Woody Allen). Scarlett Johansson plays a beautiful but geeky girl who falls in love with the object of her story, a prominent aristocrat (Hugh Jackman) who may or may not be a serial killer. This is primarily a movie that moves along through the conversations, and the dialogue is just great. At the same time, there's that sense of fun in how Johansson and Allen are trying to figure out the mystery. Woody Allen is great as the neurotic eccentric magician, but I have to give more props to Scarlett Johansson who really plays that pretty geek girl with so much charm. After loving "Match Point" and now "Scoop," I might just have to follow Woody Allen a lot more.

     The Ice Harvest (2005)  C

    "The Ice Harvest" is a dark comedic drama, that revolves around a lawyer (John Cusack) who stole money from a mob boss, and is spending some last hours in town before running off with the loot without suspicion. While the concept of the film is commendable, the movie just tries a little too hard. The execution of the story just wasn't that interesting, and while you've got great performances from supporting characters; Billy Bob Thornton and Oliver Platt, everything gets bogged down by the fact that I did not care. There's lots of little tidbits and eccentricity that were nice, but the overall movie ended up quite average.

     The Last House On The Left (1972)  C

    Before I see the inevitable remake, I thought for once I'll see an original first. "The Last House On The Left" is Wes Craven's very first movie, and it kinda shows. Everything about the movie is on the cheap, from the dialogue, the pacing, to the camera work, and the soundtrack. But what it does have going for it in terms of horror, is the sick and demented plot about two young girl's encounter with escaped convicts. The main bulk of the movie is the terror that the girls go through, and the low quality of the production almost makes it all seem like you are watching an actual snuff film. Needless to say, it's rather unforgettable. This film does need a remake though to upgrade the low production value, if anything else, they need to fix or remove the comedic scenes that don't fit that well with the rest of the movie. Great concept, poor execution.

     Street Fighter II movie (1994)  B-

    A classic video game franchise becomes a classic anime movie. There's a lot of good that came out of "Street Fighter II movie," from how well they juggled showing several of the Street Fighter characters without compromising the plot, to the animation itself that is top notch. There's also a sense of seriousness in how they made the movie which elevates the concept, but it can be easily argued that they were a little too earnest for a rather simple plot involving a terrorist organization trying to kidnap and brainwash street fighters. The pacing though is probably my biggest complaint, as they put way too many scenery scenes that are just boring. Ofcourse the real question should be asked; "how are the fight sequences?" The answer is a big thumbs up, and they even have some really memorable fights. As a fan of the video game, you will enjoy this movie.